Free HIV drug not enough to curb virus’ spread, say experts

Name: Free HIV drug not enough to curb virus’ spread, say experts
Uploaded: 2023-11-30T23:15:00+00:00
Duration: 3 min 8 s
Channel: Free Malaysia Today

Free Malaysia Today

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The Malaysian AIDS Council sees room for improvement despite the positive step to make pre-exposure prophylaxis free in selected government facilities.

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00:00 1986. This was the year Malaysia reported its first human immunodeficiency virus or HIV case.

00:07 By 2020, there were a total of 125,878 HIV cases in Malaysia, while there were 28,085 reported AIDS

00:18 cases. Over the years, measures like the needle syringe exchange program and the drug substitution

00:23 therapy program were introduced to curb the spread of HIV. These measures did not fully solve the

00:30 problem and later the government introduced the use of a highly effective HIV drug known as

00:35 pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. PrEP significantly reduces a person's chances of contracting HIV

00:43 by 99%. Initially, the drug was only available at private healthcare facilities and a monthly

00:50 dose cost between RM60 to RM200. Since the start of the year, PrEP has been made available for free

00:58 at selected public health clinics nationwide. But is it enough? Malaysian AIDS Council President

01:04 Dr. Raja Iskander Raja Azwar says there is a greater need for preventive measures,

01:09 particularly health screenings. If you use this intervention to get people on

01:14 diagnosed, treat them, start them on treatment, you reduce the overall population HIV viral load

01:21 within the community. We're talking about the 50,000, 60,000, 100,000 because these are the

01:27 numbers of potential populations at risk of HIV. Along with that PrEP, you can eliminate HIV,

01:35 even in the absence of a vaccine. Currently, more than 2,000 individuals are on PrEP,

01:42 which is available in 21 health clinics nationwide. Despite this, an average of eight

01:48 people contract HIV daily in Malaysia. Why is this the case? For Jafar Daud,

01:55 chairman of the Selangor Chapter of Punggase, the root of the problem is a lack of awareness.

02:12 Without sufficient awareness, those living with HIV may not even be aware of PrEP

02:17 and that they can obtain the drug for free.

02:19 The initiative can come, they too, with the medical healthcare workers,

02:26 they may be able to slowly deepen, get closer to what the real problem is.

02:34 Then they think about how to

02:42 deal with it.

02:49 Natasha Bust, FMT News.

Free HIV drug not enough to curb virus’ spread, say experts

Transcript

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