BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– The new medicinal innovation to continue fight HIV/AIDS infection has been warmly welcomed by men.
Some locals, mainly males, who were interviewed in a people’s engagement exercise by the Eswatini Positive News regarding the new injectable PrEP, expressed their excitement, saying they would now be keen on joining the HIV/AIDS prevention programme.
The random interviews by this reporter follow Principal Secretary (PS) for the Ministry of Health Dr Simon Zwane’s revelation that the country was adopting the above mentioned HIV/AIDS prevention drug.
Speaking to Eswatini TV on Tuesday, Zwane revealed that they had been working on the regulatory framework for the drug and they have finalised this together with development partners in the sector.
The drug is a long-acting injectable drug for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which now consists of two initial injections of Cabotegraviror (CAB-LA), administered four weeks apart and followed by an injection every eight weeks. Large-scale studies of the drug showed a 79 per cent reduction in HIV/AIDS risk compared with oral PrEP.
The availability of a long-acting form of PrEP given by injection every two months overcomes some of the barriers to uptake and adherence associated with having to take pills every day, as is currently the need with oral PrEP. These barriers include the need to store the pills at home in a safe location and fear that a family member or sexual partner may notice or find the pills. Eswatini is the second country in Africa to adopt the drug, after Zimbabwe adopted it earlier this month.
The EPN News Desk engaged men mainly because their generally known to be resistant to healthcare programmes, according to the World Health Organisation reports.
“We are excited to learn that government will now be introducing new injectable PrEP. It is general knowledge that some people stigmatise the use of PrEP tablets- making it an inconvenience to carry around.
“Also, some partners do not take kind to the programme hence we sometimes do it confidentially. This new injectable drug will make things more efficient for us. More of us with now use PrEP to prevent HIV/AIDS infection,” said the men in the random interview.
One Mdumiseni Dlamini from Manzini said he would take the injection after great consideration and further counselling, as well as detailed information.
“Injectable PrEP is what one needs to consider as a man. However, we asked ourselves that will it affect our manhood or will we live the life that we want to leave even after I have taken that injection. Are there any health benefits to this new drug that they are offering? Those are one of the reasons that would lead me to take that medication.
“For the longest time, we have been hearing conspiracy theories. However, if the benefits of taking the injection outweigh the normal preventive method, then it would be a wise decision to take it as prevention and protection is not 100 per cent guaranteed from the next person,” said Dlamini.
Agostinho Andrade, a resident of Malkerns, said he was going to be one of the first men to take the injectable PrEP.
“This is simply because if I take it, I will not need to be visiting the hospital a lot or taking any pills regularly.
“I do not know a lot about the injectable PrEP but I think it will help a lot of people, mostly those that do not go to the hospital a lot to test for HIV and those that live in places that are very far from hospitals,” said Andrade.
Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Ministry of Health Officer Mgcineni Ndlangamandla encouraged the public to use the injectable HIV/AIDS prevention drug, saying it lasted longer in the human system. “The injectable PrEP seems to be a relief from taking tablets every day since HIV infection is a possibility anytime someone is sexually exposed without protection,” said Ndlangamandla.
