A total of 2,714 individual have received the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication as of Sept 30, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said.
Analysis on use of PrEP for six months show a reduction in the infection rate for Syphilis from 11 per cent to less than one per cent, she added.
“The percentage of clients not using condoms dropped from 6.3 per cent to 3.9 per cent while the percentage of clients having multiple sexual partners dropped from 44.5 per cent to 36.1 per cent,” she said during the oral answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
She was replying Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi’s (PN-Kuala Langat) question regarding the status of the PrEP pioneer programme and when the programme would be extended to other healthcare centres.
Dr Zaliha said initial analysis of the programme found that 14 clients stopped using the medication as they not longer engaged in risky sexual activities.
She added that three HIV-positive cases (0.11 per cent) were recorded as users did not adhere to taking PrEP, but she said the rate was much lower than other countries that had implemented PrEP earlier.
Dr Zaliha also said that the programme has been extended from 18 health clinics to 21 this year, and there would be 30 clinics involved by 2024.
Data gathering is expected to be completed by Dec 31 and the results will be analysed in early 2024 to see the direct and indirect health impact following the use of PrEP, including HIV prevention and change in risky behaviour. – Bernama