Two procedures which the federal government will soon carry out a study on have shown promise in tackling HIV infection in the country, particularly for people who are at substantial risk of HIV, and also in reducing the infectiousness of people already infected with HIV-1.
They study which will be carried out by the National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA) is on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Treatment as Prevention (TasP) in the country.
“Multiple studies have established that anti-retroviral drugs could be used to reduce the rate of infection in a population in two different ways, known by the acronyms PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) and TasP (Treatment as Prevention),” said Director General of NACA, professor John Idoko.
According to him Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is a procedure for people who do not have HIV but who are at substantial risk of contracting the virus to prevent HIV infection by taking a pill every day. The pill (brand name Truvada) which contains two medicines (tenofovir and emtricitabine) are used in combination with other medicines to treat HIV.
Treatment as Prevention (TasP) on the other hand, targets people who are already infected with HIV-1, reducing their infectiousness in the population.
He said the studies have established that, after about the first six months of treatment, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) reduces HIV-1 concentrations to undetectable levels in blood plasma and genital compartments.