The Economist The hopeful article last week focused on ways to break HIV transmission among young women who have sex primarily with older men. The majority of the discussion is about PrEP
Another option is to prevent girls from contracting the disease, and preferably using methods that don’t require them to convince men to use condoms. Three PrEP methods have been developed in recent years. They are a vaginal band, daily pills and monthly injections. Women at high risk for hiv infection can be convinced
However, it can be difficult to use them.
The vaginal ring, an insertable silicone device that releases an ARV drug and must be replaced every month, can reduce the risk of HIV infection by as much as 50%. But “it’s not going to be everybody’s cup of tea,” admits Dr Bekker.
The daily PREP pill, which contains a combination of ARV drugs, has been available in Africa for several years. However, it’s difficult to know how effective it really is as only a few women took it regularly in clinical trials. These pills are believed to reduce HIV infection risk by up to 90% if taken correctly, according to some studies. It is difficult to take the medication.
