Mexico, Dec. 7 (Notimex).- Several countries participate in a protocol to test the effectiveness of treatments for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to HIV, so that at some point it is contemplated in public policies to provide these medicines to the population at risk.
Among the nations that support this initiative are Brazil, Peru and Mexico; The latter collaborates with three thousand people from Mexico City, Jalisco and Yucatan, and it is expected to have the results next year.
The head of the HIV / AIDS / STI Program in Mexico City, Andrea González Rodríguez, said that this project is carried out with international funding and in the country is coordinated by the National Institutes of Public Health (INSP, for its acronym in Spanish), Psychiatry and the Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán.
PrEP is for people who do not have HIV but are at high risk of infection, due to contact with key groups (men with men, transgender and injecting drug users, among others).
HIV-negative people who are in a relationship or share needles with HIV-positive people should take antivirals daily to decrease the risk of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
She indicated that the purpose of the protocol is to demonstrate that the use of these drugs reduces the risk of infection, and that there are public policies with the aim of guaranteeing treatment.
She added that the adolescent population and young adults between 15 and 29 years of age represent a third of the population living with HIV / AIDS, and many of them do not assume the risk of becoming infected and ignore the stigma that exists towards people who have HIV / AIDS.
Last year, four thousand tests were conducted on adolescents and 12 percent were HIV positive.
Source: Notimex