One pill a day will soon help keep thousands of sex workers HIV-free after the Department of Health is expected to announce on Friday (March 11) that it will provide antiretrovirals to thousands HIV-negative sex workers in a bid to keep them HIV free. The announcement is expected to make South Africa one of the first countries in the world to bring the latest HIV prevention science to those who need it most.
On Friday the department and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) are expected to announce that at least 3 000 HIV-negative sex workers will be eligible to begin taking the combination antiretroviral (ARV) Truvada in order to prevent contracting HIV. Truvada combines the ARVs emtricitabine and tenofovir.
Large-scale clinical trials have shown that if taken daily, Truvada can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 90 percent in people at high risk for contracting HIV like sex workers or men who have sex with men.
SANAC and the department are also expected to announce that all HIV-positive sex workers will be eligible to start HIV treatment as soon as they test positive for the virus and regardless of CD4 counts in a model dubbed “test and treat.”
Currently, most people living with HIV must wait until their CD4 counts – a measure of the immune system’s strength – fall to 500 before they can start treatment.