By Adetutu Sobowale
A non-governmental organization that promotes research development in Nigeria, New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS), has called for increased advocacy to intensify local production of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the spread of HIV across the country.
The experts emphasized that PrEP has been proven to prevent the acquisition of HIV infection by uninfected persons by 50%.
Speaking during a media training for female journalists, the Executive Director of NHVMAS, Mrs. Florita Durueke, noted that even though the oral PrEP is free and accessible here in Nigeria, the injectables which are taken once in two months cost about $50,000 yearly, which according to her, is not affordable.
The Executive Director, who described the rEP ring also known as dapivirine vaginal ring or oral PrEP, as a flexible vaginal ring made of silicone that slowly releases an antiretroviral (ARV) drug called dapivirine, said it will reduce the risk of HIV infection over one month, adding that It was developed by the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM).
While stressing that advocacy can help achieve the push for licensing of local companies for the production of PrEP to make them accessible and affordable, Dureke said it has been proven that more women are prone to the virus than men, according to checks by NHVMAS.
She said the PrEP ring was recommended as a National HIV prevention tool in Nigeria in line with WHO recommendation, stressing that the PrEP ring is crucial to achieving HIV epidemic control in the country.
According to her, HIV prevalence between women and men is highest among younger adults, with young women aged 20–24 years almost four times as likely to be living with HIV as young men in the same age group, (1.3 percent versus 0.4 percent).”
"NHVMAS’s checks also showed that more women contract HIV than men and it’s advocating PrEP ring for women to reduce the spread.
"The national HIV prevalence is 1.4 percent among adults aged 15–49 years. Women aged 15–49 years are more than twice more likely to be living with HIV than men (1.9 percent versus 0.9 percent)." She added
