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STORY: UNITAID / HIV ANTIVIRAL INJECTION
TRT:2:22
SOURCE: UNITAID
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CHECK SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 MARCH 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – CREDIT FIOCRUZ - SALVADOR, STATE OF BAHIA, BRAZIL
1. Various shots, a neighbourhood in Salvador, called Rio Vermelho, widely used as a venue for sociability by young LGBT people. All footage was shot in Salvador, State of Bahia, Northeast Brazil, one of the PrEP 1519 study sites.
MARCH 2022 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Matiru, Director of Programmes, Unitaid:
“To prevent HIV in groups at high risk, Unitaid’s investments in South Africa will enable some of the earliest access to long-acting cabotegravir, a new alternative HIV prevention therapy that replaces daily pills with one injection six times a year. Unitaid plans to launch a second large-scale implementation pilot in Brazil in the coming months. In sub-Saharan Africa, six in seven new HIV infections in adolescents are among girls and young women who are twice as likely to be living with HIV than males their age. With more options for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, Unitaid hopes more people at risk of HIV infection will be empowered to take control of their health.”
FILE – CREDIT FIOCRUZ - SALVADOR, STATE OF BAHIA, BRAZIL
2. Various shots, a transgender woman walks into “Casarão da Diversidade” (Diversity Center for LGBTQIA+), a health centre in Salvador, Brazil.
3. Various shots, transgender woman (who is a peer educator and a study participant) walks into “Casarão da Diversidade” (Diversity Center for LGBTQIA+), a health centre in Salvador, Brazil, and talks to the centre’s receptionist before having a consultation on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.
MARCH 2022 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Matiru, Director of Programmes, Unitaid:
“Access considerations to guarantee adequate and affordable supply of long-acting cabotegravir, including through generic licensing, must be urgently addressed. Long-acting PrEP could be a gamechanger in HIV prevention – but only if it reaches people at risk of infection.”
FILE – CREDIT FIOCRUZ - SALVADOR, STATE OF BAHIA, BRAZIL
5. Various shots, a young man who has sex with men (who is also a peer educator) is consulting a nurse at “Casarão da Diversidade” (Diversity Center for LGBTQIA+), a health centre in Salvador, Brazil. The nurse then hands oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pills containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to the young man.
6. Various shots, outdoor scenes in the Pelourinho neighbourhood in the historical centre of Salvador, in Brazil. The scenes include outside the “Casarão da Diversidade” (Diversity Center for LGBTQIA+) health centre and a giant “SALVADOR” sign on a square with people walking.
International health agency Unitaid announced today (18 Mar) large-scale implementation of the latest innovation in HIV prevention. A new long-lasting injection that lasts eight weeks will provide users with an alternative to daily oral pills. The expanded prevention options are expected to improve coverage for those at greatest risk of HIV infection.
Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis, or oral PrEP, can prevent HIV infection in 99 per cent of cases, but only when taken as prescribed: either once a day, or before and after sex for cisgender men.
Long-acting cabotegravir addresses challenges users face with regular pills that reduce the impact of oral PrEP in real-world settings. It also mitigates fears that pills will be misinterpreted for HIV treatment and cause the user to suffer stigma, discrimination, or intimate partner violence as a result.
Despite the high protection oral PrEP can provide, uptake has been slow. UN targets to increase PrEP coverage and reduce new HIV infections by 2020 were both missed by two-thirds. And disparities in who is accessing treatment and prevention are growing.
In Brazil, the programmes aim to reach two groups with the highest rates of HIV prevalence: an estimated 30% of transgender people and 18% of men who have sex with men are living with HIV.
Adolescent girls and young women, who will be the target of the Unitaid-funded efforts in South Africa, become infected at a disproportionately high rate. In sub-Saharan Africa, six in seven new HIV infections in adolescents occur among girls, and young women are twice as likely to be living with HIV as their male peers.
Long-acting PrEP could have a game-changing impact, improving choice and making HIV prevention a more viable option for more people. However, adequate and affordable supply must be ensured so people everywhere can benefit without delay. Unitaid strongly encourages ViiV to develop a transparent access policy for long-acting cabotegravir that readily enables voluntary licenses through the Medicines Patent Pool to assure a generic pathway to broader access.
The South African pilot will include a second new long-acting HIV prevention product. The dapivirine vaginal ring is the first completely women-initiated HIV prevention method. Lasting 28 days, the flexible silicone ring can be inserted without medical assistance and provides an additional discreet choice to a population that does not always have complete autonomy over their sexual health.
The new products significantly expand the choices afforded to users, empowering people to take control of their health and select the method that is best suited to their preferences and lifestyle. These projects will generate some of the first real-world evidence of its kind that will facilitate rapid global scale up of these products.
Unitaid, an international agency specialized in creating equitable access to health innovation in low- and middle-income countries, will partner with Fiocruz and Wits RHI and in Brazil and South Africa, respectively. Working in close collaboration with local health authorities, the partners will integrate products into existing HIV prevention and sexual health services in both countries.
