Zimbabwe meets 2021 PrEP set targets

Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE has met its 2021 pre-exposure prophylaxis targets despite Covid-19-induced service disruptions with reports showing that the uptake of the life saving treatment continues to increase in the HIV-burdened country.

Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a pill that contains ARVs that reduces the risk of HIV before exposure when taken every day.

Ideally PrEP should be taken by everyone who needs it but due to resource constraints, the country is concentrating on certain subgroups that are associated with high HIV risk.

The groups include female and male sex workers, sero-discordant couples (HIV-negative partner), people who use or inject drugs, high-risk men which include men who have sex with men, prisoners, long-distance truck drivers, clients of sex workers and transgender people.

Most oral PrEP pills contain a combination of two ARVs — tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and emtricitabine.

Zimbabwe National HIV Guidelines included a single daily oral PrEP pill containing 300mg Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) as part of HIV Prevention intervention. It can be used as a fixed-dose combination with 200mg Emtricitabine (FTC) or 300mg Lamivudine (3TC).

Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Child Care show that in 2021, a total of 59 918 people were initiated on PrEP, up from 13 359 in 2020.

Dr Owen Mugurungi who heads the HIV and TB programme in the Ministry said:
“Programme performance improved in 2021, surpassing the target despite Covid-19 hindrances. Lockdown restrictions impacted programme performance in January, with programme performance improving as lockdown restrictions eased.”

He said high adherence to daily oral PrEP reduces the risk of HIV by over 90 percent and daily oral PrEP cumulative initiations have exceeded 59,918, as at Dec 2021.

“We had targeted a 121 percent increase in 2021 given the circumstances and we managed to record those figures up from 13 359 in 2020. In 2029 the figures stood at 8 650.”

“Currently we use what we call daily Oral PrEP. These are tablets that are taken every day. You know the challenge of taking tablets every day. At times you forget and at times you may take them at different times yet you are supposed to be taking the drugs around the same time every day.

“To lessen that burden, the pharmaceutical industry has now developed some medicines that can be given as an injection and will work over a longer period. The issue is that these things are still in the trial phase of which if offered the opportunity, we are ready to try it here,” said Dr Mugurungi.

The national HIV prevalence stands at 11,58 percent. — @thamamoe.