ZIMBABWE currently has over 18 000 people taking Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) with 17 having seroconverted to HIV Positive.
By Kudakwashe Pembere
Seroconversion is the time in which a person develops antibodies to any disease-causing microorganisms (called pathogens). Antibodies are the defensive proteins produced by the immune system to neutralize a pathogen and is specific to that pathogen and that pathogen alone.
When blood tests are able to detect these antibodies, a person is said to have seroconverted. In the case of HIV, seroconversion means that a person has gone from being HIV-negative (having no HIV antibodies) to being HIV-positive (having HIV antibodies).“As we speak right now there are 18 000 people on PrEP however our concern is that of people who do not adhere to the medicine.
From what we have seen there are 17 who have seroconverted to be HIV Positive. So our aim is to have no one getting positive,” said Definite Nhamo an African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI) Fellow studying HIV prevention.
She said service delivery of HIV prevention is important to keep those who are HIV negative, negative.
“One of the new prevention options we have in Zimbabwe is pre-exposure prophylaxis- PrEP. Although access to PrEP is still limited to some extent, scale up of PrEP services is ongoing. We have people being initiated on PrEP but the main challenge we are facing is PrEP continuation or adherence,” Nhamo said.
Nhamo added that stigma fuels this defaulting of PrEP.
“Many people who fail to adhere to PrEP site reasons around stigma, being seen as promiscuous, forgetting to take the pills when they take alcohol or use substances. This is a problem as the country will fail to reach epidemic control, new HIV infections will continue to occur, yet, prevention is cheaper than treatment,” she said.
She also said there is need to have support mechanisms for those on PrEP to remain HIV negative on PrEP.
“With these problems at hand, that is why, as part of my PhD, I am developing a psychosocial intervention to help support women on PrEP so they remain HIV negative,” she said.
She also said as researchers they found that some of those who default fear to be known using PrEP tablets as Truvada. At times among sex workers, some jealous because for being unlucky, warn customers that there are those using the pills which see them yearn and prefer the injectables such as Cabotegravir.
Roll out of PrEP has been prioritised for certain populations. These are adolescent girls, young women, female sex workers, men at risk. Men at risk include men who have sex with men, long distance truck drivers, and sero-discordant couples and transgender population.
