This was not the case in an ongoing study, known as REACH (Reversing the Epidemic in Africa with Choices in HIV prevention), being conducted at four clinical research sites in Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe by the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN).
‘Adolescent girls and young women in Africa will use HIV prevention products.
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The vast majority (97 percent) of the study’s 247 participants, who were between the ages of 16 and 21 when they enrolled, used the vaginal ring and daily oral PrEP some or all of the time. Fewer than three percent of participants used neither of the products, according to laboratory tests for adherence.
These and other results from the study’s first two periods, during which participants were asked to use each of the products for six months, are being reported at IAS 2021 – the 11th IAS Conference on HIV Science – taking place virtually from 18-21 July, and were featured in an official IAS press conference today.
Both approaches received high marks from the study’s participants: during the six months they were asked to use the monthly dapivirine ring, 88 percent said they liked it, and during the period when they were assigned to use oral PrEP, 64 percent said they liked the daily pill-taking regimen.
The research team attributes the study’s findings of high product adherence and acceptability to the ongoing support measures, tailored for this population, and nonjudgmental counseling approach provided as part of the study.
“In many ways, these results exceeded even our own expectations, yet at the same time, it’s not surprising to find that these young women have the capacity and desire to protect themselves against HIV. They simply need to feel empowered and have the agency to make choices based on what they feel is right for them,” said Gonasagrie (Lulu) Nair, MBChB, MPH, REACH protocol chair and senior lecturer, Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, Faculty of Medicine, at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Source: Medindia
