Alarm as youth ditch condoms for tablets to prevent HIV

Health officials are concerned over the high number of young people in Naivasha who requested for PEP, the tablets used to prevent HIV after unprotected sex.

Head of the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council Dr Ruth Laibon-Masha said the high demand could lead to abuse.

“When you see such a high demand of  PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), it means the risk has already happened. All they said is that they were using condoms, which burst, or were drunk when having sex,” Dr Masha said.

The council had engaged more than 100 trained health workers and promoters to conduct HIV awareness to young people attending the Safari Rally in Naivasha.

Their results show they reached more than 15,000 young people over the three days with services such as tests, condoms and information.

They also offered HIV tests and medications to those positive and those seeking to prevent HIV.

Although more than 200,000 condoms were being distributed, officials were alarmed that many young people were also seeking PEP tablets.

The high demand for PEP indicates successful awareness about it, but also possible misuse.

“We have a challenge because young people are waiting for risk to happen then they come,” Masha said.

“What they need are condoms or Pre-exposure prophylaxis (Prep), which must be taken seven days prior to exposure.”

She noted health workers cannot allow people to abuse the post-exposure drugs  because they should be taken only in emergency situations.

They are also not 100 per cent effective and if misused, can cause users to develop drug resistance in the case of future HIV infection.

The first dose of PEP should ideally be administered within two hours of an exposure and no later than 72 hours after an exposure.

“Last year, we had 117 people turning positive even after taking PEP because they came late,” Dr Masha said.

She also noted PEP drugs do not prevent pregnancy and other sexually transmitted infections, which are on the rise.

Nixon Chepkwony, the NSDCC coordinator for the South Rift Region, said: “Before someone is put on PEP, they must be tested for HIV. They are only placed on the drugs if they are negative. If they were already positive, then they need antiretroviral therapy.”

PEP regimen consists of taking multiple antiretroviral medications over the course of 28 days.

The medications work to prevent HIV from replicating and spreading through the body to reduce your chances of becoming HIV-positive. Even if PEP is taken correctly, there is no guarantee that it will absolutely prevent HIV infection.

Various factors can reduce the effectiveness, including delays in initiation and not adhering to or completing the 28-day medication regimen.

It is free in public health facilities.

Chepkwony also said at least 10,000 young people were reached through HIV testing methods. “Most of them preferred the Saliva-based test because they can do it privately,” he said.

Joyce Ncece, the chief officer of public health in Nakuru county, said in collaboration wth NSDCC, they distributed more than 10,000 HIV test kits in the first two days of Safari Rally.

“We need to come together because it is the youth who are most affected. We really encourage young people to come for HIV prevention services,” she said.

She said the latest HIV statistics showed 75 per cent  of all new infections every year (22,000) happen among young people aged 15-35.