It has been described as the closest the world has ever come to a vaccine against the coronavirus AIDS Virus.
the Shot twice a year It was 100% effective in preventing HIV infection in a study in women, and results published Wednesday showed it was almost as effective in men.
Drug maker Gilead It said it would allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates – mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. But it excluded almost all of them latin americaRates are much lower but increasing, raising concern that the world is missing a crucial opportunity to stop the disease.
“This is so far superior to any other prevention method we have, and it is unprecedented,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. She credited Gilead with developing the drug, but said that the world’s ability to stop AIDS depends on its use in countries at risk.
In a a report The number of deaths from AIDS last year – an estimated 630,000 people – was at its lowest levels since it peaked in 2004, said UNAIDS, released on World AIDS Day on Sunday. He points out that the world is now at a “historic crossroads” and has an opportunity to end the disease. The epidemic.
The drug, called lenacapavir, is already sold under the brand name Sunlenca to treat HIV infection in the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere. The company plans to obtain a license soon to use Sunlenca for HIV prevention.
While there are other ways to protect against infection, such as condoms, Daily pills, Vaginal rings and bimonthly doses. Gilead’s twice-yearly doses, experts say, would be especially helpful for marginalized people who are often afraid to seek care, including gay men, sex workers and young women.
“It would be a miracle for these groups because it means they only have to come to the clinic twice a year and then they are protected,” said Byanyima of UNAIDS.
This was the case for Luis Ruvalcaba, a 32-year-old man from Guadalajara, Mexico, who participated in the most recently published study. He said he was afraid to ask for daily pills provided by the government, for fear of being discriminated against as a gay man. Because he participated in the study, he will continue to receive the doses for at least another year.
“In Latin American countries, there is still a lot of stigma, where patients are ashamed to ask for the pills,” said Dr. Alma Minerva Pérez, who recruited and enrolled dozens of volunteers in the study at a private research center in Guadalajara.
The availability of vaccines in Mexico through the country’s health care system is not yet known. Health officials declined to comment on any plans to buy Sunlenca for its citizens; Daily HIV prevention pills were made available free of charge across the country’s public health system in 2021.
“If the possibility of using generic drugs is available, I am confident that Mexico can join,” Perez said.
Besides Mexico, other countries involved in the research were also excluded from the generic drug deal, Byanyima said, including Brazil, Peru and Argentina. “To deny them drugs now is unconscionable.” She said.
Gilead said in a statement that it has an “ongoing commitment to help enable access to HIV prevention and treatment options where the need is greatest.” Of the 120 countries eligible for the generic version, 18 are mostly African, which accounts for 70% of the world’s HIV burden.
The pharmaceutical company said it is also working to create “fast and effective pathways to reach all people who need or want lenacapavir for HIV prevention.”
On Thursday, 15 advocacy groups in Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Guatemala and Colombia wrote to Gilead, requesting that Sanlenka be made available in Latin America, citing “alarming” inequalities in access to new HIV prevention tools while infection rates rise. It was rising.
While countries including Norway, France, Spain and the United States have paid more than $40,000 a year for Sunlenca, experts have estimated it could be produced for less than $40 per treatment once generic production is expanded to cover 10 million people.
Dr. Chris Bearer, director of the Global Health Institute at Duke University, said it would be extremely beneficial to make Sanlinka available in the most affected countries in Africa and Asia. But he said rising rates of HIV infection among groups including gay and transgender men constituted a “public health emergency” in Latin America.
Hania Danielle Torres, a 30-year-old trans woman and artist who was part of Sanlenka’s study in Mexico, said she hopes the government will find a way to make the shots available. “Mexico may have some of the richest people in the world, but it also has some of the most vulnerable people living in extreme poverty and violence,” Torres said.
Another drugmaker, Viiv Healthcare, also excluded most Latin American countries when it authorized generic drugs for HIV prevention in about 90 countries. This bimonthly injection, sold under the name Apretude, is 80% to 90% effective in preventing HIV. It costs about $1,500 a year in middle-income countries, which is more than most people can afford.
With more than a million new HIV infections globally each year, established prevention methods are not enough, said Asia Russell, executive director of advocacy group HealthGap. She urged countries such as Brazil and Mexico to issue “compulsory licensing,” a mechanism whereby countries suspend patents in health crises.
It’s a strategy some countries have adopted in previous HIV treatments, including in the late 1990s and 2000s when AIDS drugs were first discovered. Recently, Colombia It issued its first ever compulsory license for its lead HIV treatment Tivicay in April, without obtaining permission from drugmaker Viiv.
Dr. Salim Abdul Karim, an AIDS expert at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said he had never seen a drug that seemed as effective as Slinka in preventing HIV.
“The missing piece to the puzzle now is how to get it to everyone who needs it,” he said.
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