The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has approved a monthly dapivirine vaginal ring for adult women that has been described by HIV experts as a “game-changer in HIV prevention”.
The dapivirine ring is an intravaginal silicone ring, developed by the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) for HIV prevention
The ring releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine for a month and reduces HIV infection by 35%. %. Its safety has been impressive in all clinical trials to date. It received approval from the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organisation (WHO) also added it to its list of prequalified medicines.
South Africa is the first country to approve the ring as it was successfully tested in six African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
Dr Zeda Rosenberg, IPM’s founder and CEO, said:
“This approval is a positive step towards offering women more prevention options they can use to control their health on their own terms.
We look forward to collaborating with the South African government and partners to incorporate the monthly ring into the health system, and into women’s lives in South Africa.”
HIV experts argue that expanding women’s HIV prevention choices is critical to controlling the epidemic and ensuring their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Women are currently most affected by the HIV virus with nearly two-thirds of new adult infections in South Africa and across the continent occurring among women.
This is yet another huge stride in the continuous fight against HIV. Recently researchers successfully cured an HIV patient with stem cell therapy. Although stem cell therapy is not accessible to most people, this ring will be accessible to all women and they can insert it themselves.
With the legalization of sex work in many countries as a recognized profession, we are also bound to see women in these lines of work operating more confidently. One has to wonder if the fear of contracting HIV has been contributing to the rate at which the virus has been spreading. Will the spread of HIV be curbed if people start being more sexually active on the assumption that the ring will protect them? The ring is after all 35% effective.