Written by Leonardo Linconl and editions by Marcos Benedetti

On July 24 this year, in the morning, during the 22nd International Conference on Aids (Amsterdam), it was held the satellite session “What is needed: Reaching Adolescents and Young Adults with PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis)” – where the World Health Organization (WHO) presented the guidelines and goals in relation to the use of PrEP in adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years old.

Every day, 37% of the new infections by HIV occur among youngsters from 15 to 24 years old, due to factors of development, social and economic vulnerabilities that increase the risk of HIV infection. Although efforts have been made to reach youngsters with the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for prevention of HIV, many challenges remain, since the identification of youngsters that may get benefited from PrEP, until reaching and binding youngsters to the services. The World Health Organization developed an implementation module to those interested in providing PrEP to adolescents and young adults (www.who.int ). The tool summarizes the factors that influence the vulnerability of youngsters to HIV, describes the role of PrEP, outlines the possibility of policies to improve the access and discusses the clinic considerations. The session met a diversified group of scientists, physicians, policy makers, implementing parties of programs, and youngsters’ representatives describing the most recent scientific evidences, sharing experiences, discussing challenges, and highlighting the best practices for the provision of prevention services friendly to adolescents and youngsters that incorporate PrEP.

During the session, Laura Alves, member of the team of ImPrEP of Brazil, participated in the panel “Directly listening: What are the youngsters looking for, who needs to change?” – where she could report her experience of youngster in Brazil using PrEP. Inês Dourado, of Universidade Federal da Bahia, researcher and collaborator in the implementation of PrEP for transgender adolescents and youngsters and men that make sex with men of ImPrEP project in Brazil, was also present and participated in the discussion. Linda Gail-Bekker, president of the International Conference on Aids 2018, was the facilitator of the panel.

Photo: ImPrEP Team