KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is actively conducting engagement and literacy sessions with the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) regarding the use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication, the Dewan Negara was told today.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni said the engagement sessions, aimed at obtaining religious perspectives on the use of medications in efforts to reduce the risk of HIV infection, also involve Islamic religious officers at the Federal and state levels.
“We are conducting very active engagement sessions, and so far there have been no definitive decisions regarding the legality of PrEP use.
“However, the ministry sees that the distribution of PrEP has witnessed a more positive impact on the health aspects of clients taking the medication,“ he said during the question-and-answer session.
He was replying to a question from Senator Datuk Husain Awang who wanted to know the current status of the implementation of the PrEP drug usage pilot project and discussions with Jakim regarding the use of the medication.
Meanwhile, Lukanisman said a total of 3,041 individuals have received PrEP medication until Oct 31 since the pilot project involving 18 health clinics began in January.
Of this total, he said 50 individuals were sero-discordant couples consisting of 30 women and 20 men, while 2,947 were at-risk groups such as transgender individuals, and the remaining 44 individuals did not specify their risk group.
“Based on preliminary analysis, up to the sixth month of using this medication, there has been a reduction in the syphilis infection rate from 14 percent to six percent, while the percentage of clients not using condoms has decreased from 14.9 percent to 1.7 percent,“ he said.
Lukanisman said the percentage of clients with multiple sexual partners has also decreased to 7.3 percent from 39.7 percent, and 22 clients have stopped using PrEP because they are no longer engaging in risky sexual activities.
The pilot project for the use of PrEP medication is being carried out to assess its effectiveness and safety in reducing the risk of HIV transmission. According to the health ministry, taking the medication as prescribed can reduce the risk of HIV infection through sex by about 90 percent.–Bernama