Quito, February 16, 2023
With this strategy, HIV infection is prevented in more than 90%.
The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) presented the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) service, a prevention strategy that reduces the probability of acquiring HIV through unprotected risky practices. From this February 16, 2023, it will be enabled in the Comprehensive Care Unit (UAI) of the Calderón General Teaching Hospital (HGDC) and will be extended to three hospitals located in Machala, Guayaquil and Manta; and in two health centers in Esmeraldas and Azuay.
PrEP is an effective drug that prevents HIV infection. It consists of the application of several actions, including taking the drug daily, which inhibits the entry of the virus into cells, and therefore prevents the transmission of the virus. HIV. It works only in HIV-negative people, who are at substantial risk of acquiring the virus.
During the event, José Ruales, Minister of Public Health, presented the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) service in the aforementioned establishments and it will be extended to 51 Comprehensive HIV Care Units (UAI) for serodiscordant couples. Within the framework of combined prevention, the consistent use of condoms, comprehensive health education, diagnosis and treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) is essential.
Among other things, he emphasized the importance of eliminating stigma and discrimination associated with HIV. In addition, he pointed out that “the implementation plan of the PrEP strategy will take place in the General Guasmo Sur hospitals in Guayaquil; Teófilo Dávila in Machala and Rodríguez Zambrano in Manta as an effective prevention strategy in response to HIV”.
For the PrEP service, there is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary team made up of doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical biochemists, psychologists and laboratory technicians.
The experience on medical care and PrEP was shared by Eduardo Salas Ante, a beneficiary of the service at the Calderón General Teaching Hospital. “I felt that I was able to express myself freely and access without having to pay for advice, follow-up and medical review.” He recognized the management of the MSP by being the second country in Latin America to provide this service for free.
To achieve the project, the MSP has technical assistance from the Pan American Health Organization PAHO/WHO. In this sense, Gabriela Pertuz, delegate of the organization, mentioned that “the implementation of this service is a coherent response with the international agreements to which the member countries have committed themselves, to put an end to the AIDS epidemic.” In her intervention, she congratulated the implementation of the service in the health establishments of Ecuador.
TogetherPorLaSalud