Caring for people of non-traditional orientation
Norwegians at risk for HIV will receive a drug for prevention free of charge
Copper news
People who have a high chance of contracting HIV will now be able to receive a pre-exposure prophylaxis for free. Such a program has now started operating in Norway. Previously, similar initiatives have also been implemented – in Canada, France, South Africa and the USA – but only in Norway the medicine is given to potential patients completely free of charge. In the USA, for example, only part of the cost of the drug is covered by medical insurance (without it, its price is about 24 thousand dollars a year), in France, the purchase costs are reimbursed if a person has a prescription – but in Norway they do not require a prescription.
The remedy, which is offered to Norwegians from the risk group, refers to the drugs of "prevention before detection" (pre-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP). According to the results of one of the studies conducted using a drug based on this drug (Truvada), it significantly reduces the risk of infection – by 92-99%. It can be used by homo- and bisexual men, as well as transgender women. The government has been lobbying for this initiative for 2 years. Leif-Ove Hansen, head of HIV Norway, said that PrEP will contribute to reducing the number of new infections among this category of people, since the probability of HIV transmission through homosexual contact is much higher due to the fact that people use condoms less often.
In total, in 2015 there were almost 6 thousand HIV carriers in the country, and if 249 new patients were registered in 2014, then in 2015 there were already 221, 111 of whom were migrants infected before arriving in Norway. The population of the country in 2015 was 5,179 thousand people, so there were less than 0.1% of patients. For comparison, last week "MedNovosti" wrote about Yekaterinburg, where there are more than 26 thousand HIV carriers for an incomplete 1.5 million people.
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07.11.2016