Pharmacies in Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Navarra, the Basque Country and Ceuta carry out rapid HIV tests

2023-12-04 12:53:58

The last to join has been Navarra thanks to an agreement between the Department of Health and the Official College of Pharmacists

Pharmacies in some communities offer rapid HIV tests Isabel Permuy

ABC Health for the General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges

The community pharmacy has become the closest and most accessible health establishment for the early detection of HIV. In pharmacies in the autonomous communities of Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Navarra, the Basque Country and the Autonomous City of Ceuta, pharmacists perform rapid HIV tests; and, in addition, the 22,220 pharmacies throughout the country dispense the self-diagnostic test, bringing this early detection method closer to thousands of citizens every year. Facts that confirm that the community pharmacist has become a fundamental ally in the prevention and early detection of HIV and in the monitoring of treatments for HIV-positive people, especially those with comorbidities.

The president of the General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges, Jesús Aguilar, highlights “the numerous healthcare activities carried out by pharmacies in relation to the prevention and treatment of HIV-positive people, who on many occasions, in addition to antiretroviral treatment “He needs other medications for other pathologies that are dispensed from the community pharmacy.” Thus, in the area of ​​prevention, pharmacies promote health education, screening and health promotion, and contribute to minimizing the risk of transmission with syringe exchange programs and provision of sterile injection equipment for drug users. parenterally.

Comorbidity and chronicity

The pharmacist accompanies these patients in the hospital setting through the Dispensing of antiretroviral medications from the Hospital Pharmacy Services as well as by promoting adherence to them, and also from the community pharmacy since in many cases these patients They have comorbidities, which is why the monitoring carried out by the community pharmacy is essential to contribute to the safety of treatments and avoid errors associated with medication. In this sense, the community pharmacist places special emphasis on the need to comply with the guidelines, offering the Therapeutic Adherence Service; and in their safety with the Pharmacotherapeutic Monitoring Service.

The motto of World AIDS Day in 2023 is “Let communities lead”, which is intended to convey the importance they have, among others, because they connect people with people-centered public health services, generate trust , innovate and supervise the implementation of policies and services. «A task in which they can count on the nearly 80,000 pharmacists and the proximity and accessibility of the 22,220 pharmacies«, declared Jesús Aguilar.

Undetectable=Untransmittable

In this edition, the General Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges has joined the Cesida campaign ‘ReVIHsando Undetectable = Untransmittable’, which aims to emphasize that the viral load of HIV in fluids such as blood, semen or vaginal fluid is so low that a test cannot detect the virus and, therefore, has no capacity to transmit. The initiative consists of more than 25 videos aimed at health professionals, two of which have been prepared by the General Council of Pharmacists: Pharmaceutical advice for polymedicated older people with HIV infection y Foods that interact with antiretroviral drugs.

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