HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis are offered in more health units in Manaus; check out

The City of Manaus expanded the offer of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the municipal basic network, making the service available in five more units of the Municipal Health Department (Semsa), since Monday (22). With the reinforcement, the total number of basic units that offer the HIV prevention method to users of the Unified Health System (SUS) in the capital reaches nine.

The new units offering PrEP are:

• Carlson Gracie family clinic, located in the Nova Cidade neighborhood,
• Family Health Unit (USF) Arthur Virgílio, in Novo Aleixo,
• USF Amazonas Palhano, in São José,
• USF Ivone Lima, in Coroado,
• USF Luiza do Carmo Fernandes, in Mauazinho.

The service is also available at the family clinics Carmen Nicolau (Disa Norte) and Fábio do Couto Valle (Disa Leste), and at the USFs Luiz Montenegro (Disa Sul) and Ajuricaba (Disa Oeste). The four units monitor 865 users currently using PrEP.

According to the technique of the Center for Control of HIV/Aids, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Viral Hepatitis, Rita de Cássia Castro, PrEP consists of the daily use of antiretroviral medication to prevent infection in case of exposure to HIV, with efficacy of 95%. The expansion of the supply in the basic network, she points out, seeks to increase access and use of PrEP, aimed at people over 15 years of age who present contexts of increased risk for infection by the virus, according to the protocol of the Ministry of Health.

“Our user profile today is people with a high level of education, and we want PrEP for all audiences. We hope that more people know about and seek out the service, and that they spread the word to each other, acting as multipliers together with Semsa”, states the technician.

The provision of PrEP in the new units begins after a series of multidisciplinary training aimed at teams, including not only doctors, nurses and pharmacists, but also professionals qualified to prescribe the method, such as social workers, psychologists, receptionists and other workers.

Teams from nine units participated in the training, which took place in October and November last year, covering subjects such as combined HIV prevention strategies, the epidemiological situation of HIV/AIDS, flow of care, case studies, among others.

“In this first moment, we are starting the service in these five units, which have trained teams and medication available. We plan to implement the PrEP offer in another five, in March, after training another team and remaining professionals”, anticipates Rita de Cássia.

Flow

People interested in using PrEP to prevent HIV can look for one of the service’s nine reference units in the basic network, where they will be welcomed by a health professional and receive information and guidance. One of the conditions for adopting prophylaxis is not being infected, which is why the user must take a rapid test for HIV, being referred for appropriate treatment in case of a positive result.

Users with a negative result in the rapid test receive a prescription for withdrawal and immediate use of the antiretroviral medication, in addition to control exams. After 25 days of starting the method, the first consultation is scheduled for evaluation and renewal of the prescription, with new returns scheduled every three months.

“It is important to highlight that PrEP does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections, so we cannot give up other combined prevention strategies, such as vaccination against HPV and hepatitis B, the use of condoms, regular testing, among others”, he warns. Rita de Cassia.

Strategies

PrEP began to be offered in the municipal basic network in February 2021, at the Franco de Sá family clinic, in the West zone. With the renovation of the site, the service was transferred to USF Ajuricaba and, in February 2022, it also began to be offered at USF Luiz Montenegro and at the Carmen Nicolau and Fábio do Couto clinics.

In addition to PrEP, the four units today also offer HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), an urgent prevention measure to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV infection, through the use of antiretroviral medications in a maximum of 72 hours after exposure to the virus. In the basic network, the service is aimed at people who did not use a condom during sexual intercourse or in situations where the condom broke.

Last year, Manaus registered 1,339 new cases of HIV and 413 cases of AIDS, according to Semsa’s HIV/AIDS Control Center, based on data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System of the Ministry of Health. In 2022 , there were 1,904 new cases of HIV and 486 cases of AIDS registered in the municipality.

*With information from consultancy

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