New Study Unveils Cutting-Edge HIV Prevention Approach with High Effectiveness

A new line of research into PrEP , pre-exposure prophylaxis, has yielded excellent results. The new drug, called Lenacapavir, has the potential to greatly improve HIV prevention policies. The new method involves subcutaneous injections every six months, unlike the current model, Truvada, which is a pill that must be taken daily. Ricardo Vasconcelos, clinical coordinator of HIV prevention projects at the Clinical Research Center at the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, comments: “The possibility of an HIV prevention method that involves only injections into the abdomen every six months as an efficient prevention method is excellent news.”

Benefits

Although Truvada and condoms are effective and widespread methods, even offered by the SUS, the injection is still innovative. This is due to its method of administration: once every six months. “Adherence to a prevention method is essential for it to work. And when you tell someone ‘use a condom during sex’, some will use it, others won’t”, the doctor explains. The same goes for Truvada; the subcutaneous injection promises to have much greater adherence: “When you talk about a subcutaneous injection in the belly every six months, it seems a little easier to guarantee that people will be able to take it”.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the IBGE, which interviewed more than 100,000 people throughout Brazil, 59% of respondents said they had not used a condom at all in the last year. Condoms are highly effective and would guarantee an almost zero risk rate, but only if used every time. The idea is that, as the Lenacapavir study progresses, people will be able to choose the method that best suits their situation in the future.

The study

Despite the good news, the research has not yet been completed and more studies will be carried out. The study group that brought the first results was made up of around 5,300 heterosexual women in Uganda, none of whom were infected. Brazil, in particular USP, is another study center, with the group being gay and bisexual men, as well as trans and non-binary people.

“In this way, we are able to evaluate the preventive effectiveness of this intervention in all the different subgroups vulnerable to HIV in the world,” explains Vasconcelos. According to the World Health Organization, some of the main groups at risk of HIV are men who have sex with men, people deprived of liberty, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people.