Women in Kenya will benefit from a donation of rings worn to prevent HIV infection for one month.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The ring is placed inside the vagina for 28 days, where it slowly releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine over that period. The drug prevents HIV infection.
The ring was approved for use in Kenya last year.
The donation will come through the Global Fund, which received $2 million from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation to purchase 150,000 vaginal rings for countries that implement Global Fund grants.
Women are disproportionately affected by HIV in Kenya.
Out of 1.4 million Kenyans living with HIV, about 880, 000 are women, according to the Ministry of Health.
That is partly because they lack an acceptable and accessible method whose use they can control themselves without requiring a partner’s cooperation.
“The PrEP ring gives women and girls a discrete option that is entirely within their control,” said Miles Kemplay, head of sexual and reproductive health and rights at CIFF.
“For too, long price points have made this option inaccessible. This partnership is the first step in making the market more sustainable and increasing access for those who need it.”
The ring currently costs about Sh1,500 for one month of use.
Global Fund and CIFF said in a statement that their partnership, which will kick off in October, aims to seed the market for wider adoption of the PrEP ring.
In collaboration with other partners, including Unitaid, it also aims to bridge the gap to a three-month PrEP ring and/or an African-manufactured PrEP ring.
They said the ring manufacturer is already working on a new version that will last three months.
The three-month PrEP ring will cost less than Sh2,000, excluding distribution, representing a nearly 60 per cent drop in price per month, they said in a statement.
“In many areas of the world, the rate of new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women is more than three times the rate among adolescent boys and young men,” said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund.
“This is unacceptable. We are convinced that this new PrEP ring can have a revolutionary impact. Girls and women have spoken up that they want the PrEP ring, and today’s announcement is one more steppingstone in a series of innovative approaches to give it to them.”
So far, apart from Kenya other countries that have approved the PrEp ring are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The World Health Organization has recommended the ring since 2021 as an additional prevention choice for women at substantial risk of HIV infection as part of a combination prevention approach.
The Global Fund and CIFF have partnered to fight HIV since 2015, when CIFF pledged $10 million to support paediatric HIV treatment and expand access to treatment in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
In 2022, CIFF pledged $33 million to the Global Fund to support accelerated access to PrEP and PEP for populations that need it most in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
However, the ring offers only moderate protection against HIV and does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections.
Studies have shown that the dapivirine ring—the first long-acting HIV prevention tool designed specifically for women—is moderately effective.
It was shown to reduce HIV risk by approximately 30 per cent in two randomised controlled trials . Later, i n the DREAM study, the ri sk of HIV acquisition was reduced by around 40 per cent to 60 per cent.
The developer withdrew an application to enter the US market in 2021 when the Food and Drug Administration advised it was unlikely to approve the ring because of its low efficacy…CONTINUE READING>>
