HIV in South Africa is still a crisis with 7.7 million HIV-positive people in the country alone. Women account for 63% of all adults living with HIV and 64% of new infections.
And every year, approximately 240 000 new infections are reported.
Age appropriate comprehensive sexual education in schools and out of school settings is important because lack thereof means that young people are more likely to believe myths and misinformation about sex, HIV and engage in reckless behaviour.
Sithethele Daca, registered Nurse and HIV/Aids advocate says the involvement of youth in the development and implementation of HIV services increases the likelihood that young people will receive services that meet their needs and that they will engage in safe practices consciously.
“There’s a saying people like, “you guys are taking treatment to avoid taking treatment”. It’s funny but true. At the end of the day, there is still no cure for HIV, so I know it seems so mundane, but prevention is always better than cure” so if you know you are at high risk considering taking PrEP isn’t such a bad idea he told IOL.
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PrEP stands for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (and) is the use of antiretroviral medicine by HIV-negative individuals before potential exposure to HIV to prevent them from acquiring the infections.
“What people need to know is that PrEP doesn’t protect you against STIs; pregnancy just shields you from getting HIV infections.”
Condoms and lubricants should always be used as part of a package to prevent lacerations.
Who can be initiated into PrEP
PrEP is intended for people who do not have HIV but are at risk of contracting the virus through sex or injection drug use. If you have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STI) in the past six months.
How does it all work?
It’s mandated that a person tests to be initiated into this treatment because HIV does not present the same way in everyone, some people will be symptomatic while others will not.
This simply means that symptomatic individuals will test negative in the majority of cases but will have some symptoms such as upper respiratory tract infections but will test negative for HIV. “HIV is tricky like that”.
“To avoid misdiagnosis we are always urged to do quality tests using two samples HIV-positive serum as well as HIV negative serum from the alyza test which test antibodies to see if the kit will give the right test results.
“It’s crucial for people that decide to take PrEP that they strictly adhere to prep standards. If you start your patient on PrEP, at least for 21 days they should use dual protection which is condom.”
Checking the patient’s kidneys to see if they are functioning properly. As well as adherence counselling.
Every drug passes through the liver, so testing for hepatitis B is done to ensure the liver is not damaged, says the nurse. Pregnancy tests and STI screenings are required.
A pregnant woman can take prep and be tested for HIV at each visit to help prevent mother-to-child transmission.
Every three months you are required to test for HIV, furthermore new guidelines state if you test positive now, you are initiated on treatment immediately.
PrEP reduces the effectiveness of implanon in patients on long-term reversible contraception such as implants. So, even though the standard period is three years, for the contraceptive’s efficacy, it should be two.
Does PrEP cause side effects?
In some people, PrEP can cause side effects, such as nausea. These side effects are not serious and generally go away over time.
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What happens once a person starts PrEP?
Once you start PrEP, you must take it every day. When PrEP is not taken on a daily basis, it is much less effective. Continue to use condoms while on PrEP. Even though daily PrEP can significantly reduce your HIV risk,
“If you test positive for HIV, which is still possible, you must stop taking the medication. Similarly, if we discover that you have renal illness or other impairments, such as kidney failure, you stop using the medication.
People have this ridiculous notion that once they start using PrEP, they are free and become even more irresponsible, which is why we always advise using condoms, Yes the risks are reduced for you as opposed to someone who doesn’t take PrEP.”
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