According to figures from the Belgian Pharmaceutical Association, in Belgium sales of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a preventive treatment for HIV-negative people that are exposed to the HIV virus, have almost doubled in three years. However, not all “at risk” groups are able to obtain the treatment will the same amount of ease and there are waiting lists for those wishing to be prescribed the drug.
PrEP is sold in Belgium under the name Truvada. Since 2017 those that have been prescribed Truvada have the lion’s share of cost of the drug reimbursed. During the past three years, sales of the PrEP treatment have increased by 84%.
According to the latest figures from the Public Health Institute Sciensano, around 5,000 people in Belgium were undergoing treatment with PrEP at the end of 2021. This figure has since increased.
Boris Cruyssaert of the Flemish Center for Sexual Health Expertise Sensoa told VRT News that "In the field, we see that gay men are more ready to talk about PrEP and that there is a lot of interest for it. This is a big difference with the attitude that was prevalent a few years ago. In recent years, we have invested heavily in communication and bespoke campaigns aimed at specific target groups".
PrEP comes in the form of pills for HIV-negative people at high risk of becoming HIV-positive. These include gay men, sex workers, partners of people living with HIV,… The treatment also helps prevent HIV infection resulting from unprotected sex.
The large group currently undergoing PrEP treatment in Belgium are gay men aged between 30 and 39. The treatment is only available on perscription from a doctor that works at one of the country’s 12 HIV Reference Centres.
Thijs Reyniers of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp told VRT News that the increase in the use of PrEP as a preventative treatment against HIV has meant that new patients have to wait up to 5 months before they can start taking the drug.