In Colombia, the public health system obligatorily expanded access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) in the Health Benefits Plan, formerly called the Obligatory Health Plan (POS), the set of health care benefits to which they are entitled the Colombians.
Access to this medicine to prevent the spread of VIH, prescribed to people at risk of contracting the virus and want to prevent it, although it had already been recommended last June in an HIV Guide issued by the Ministry of Health, it was now included as a right in Resolution 2292 of December 2021 with the that were updated and established new health services as of 2022.
This means that now EPS will not be able to deny the right of a person at risk of contracting HIV to access treatments to prevent the virus.
For Miguel Ángel López, HIV positive activist and co-founder of Más Que Tres Letras, an NGO in Medellín that works in education around the virus, the update of the Health Benefits Plan is a step forward in the global fight against HIV.
“This announcement from the Ministry of Health means that the Government of Colombia is recognizing that HIV is not only about treating people, who already have it, but that preventive actions must be even stronger. It is a step forward to recognize that preventive medicine is better and even much cheaper than therapeutic medicine, ”said the activist.
As Miguel Ángel López explained, from now on, interested persons will be able to make an appointment with a general practitioner and request that they be referred to the professional who can prescribe PrEP. However, there is still a lack of clarity on how the process to access the benefit will be. “It is something that is still being done in the march. It is something too new. There are many EPS that have not finished informing their general practitioners, ”said the activist.
Health experts affirm that PrEP is more than a drug, since it is a complete program that is not for everyone and through which the person accesses continuous medical monitoring, periodic screening examinations, and their state of health. health in general, among other health care and contagion prevention actions.
“It is good that everyone who is considering taking PrEP takes full responsibility for it. It is not a pill simply to go out and have unprotected sex because yes, it is a complete program that requires previous examinations, requires control examinations and requires that the person commit to adherence and comply with the correct taking of the medication “, he adds Miguel Ángel López.
The main recommendation of the activist and health expert to prevent HIV / AIDS infection lies in inviting people to individual awareness to make responsible use of protection tools such as the use of condoms and taking PrEP, as well as Get tested for the virus (at least once a year for those who don’t take PrEP and every two to three months for those who do).
.