Officials study offering preventive HIV infection treatment in pharmacies to reduce waitlist

The Catalan health department is studying the possibility of offering PrEP treatment, a medicine to prevent HIV infection, in pharmacies to reduce the waitlist.

Catalan authorities estimate that between 4,000 and 5,000 people are awaiting the treatment. The health ministry is also studying the possibility of offering PrEP at primary health care centers (CAP) to extend the network of hospitals that have the treatment, as first reported by Catalunya Ràdio radio station and later confirmed by the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

PrEP has only been available at the Barcelona CheckPoint center, at AIDS centers, and at 17 hospitals across the territory. It entered the public health system in 2019.

PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a medication that helps prevent HIV infection, especially for those who are at a higher risk of exposure through injection drug use or sex.

According to the US Center for Disease Control, taking PrEP daily reduces the risk of getting HIV through sex by about 99% and decreases it by 74% for intravenous drug users.

Experts estimate there are 35,353 AIDS-positive residents in Catalonia. In 2019, doctors diagnosed 649 cases, 471 in 2020, 438 in 2021, 480 in 2022, and 481 in 2023.

Barcelona HIV-patient

Known as the Barcelona patient, a 75-year-old woman who has been able to control HIV for 15 years without antiretrovirals made headlines worldwide this summer when her case was presented at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, Canada.

Press play below to listen to our Filling the Sink podcast episode on the extraordinary case of a functional HIV cure or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.