Brazil Fights H.I.V. Spike in Youths With Free Preventive Drug
The New York Times - "Seeking to stem a sharp rise in H.I.V. cases among young people, Brazil began offering a drug this month that can prevent infection to those deemed at high risk.
Brazil is the first country in Latin America, and among the first in the developing world, to adopt the pill Truvada, under a program known as PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis, as an integral part of its preventive health care policy. The blue pill — which drastically reduces the risk of contracting the virus when taken daily — will be made available at no cost to eligible Brazilians at 35 public health clinics in 22 cities during an inaugural phase of the program.[...]
“Our hope is that with PrEP and other measures we can reduce the rate of new infections,” said Adele Benzaken, the director of the AIDS department at Brazil’s Health Ministry. “But it’s a big challenge.”
PrEP is being made available to prostitutes, transgender people, men who have sex with men, some drug users and people in relationships with partners who have H.I.V." (Photo: NIAID/flickr, CC BY 2.0).