{"id":2806,"date":"2020-07-27T13:55:38","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T05:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/?p=2806"},"modified":"2020-07-27T13:55:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T05:55:38","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-on-demand-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-on-demand-prep\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know About On-Demand PrEP"},"content":{"rendered":"

On-demand HIV PrEP<\/a> (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is one of the most important developments in the prevention of an HIV <\/a>infection. And while the way it works is fairly simple to understand, there are still questions that people need to have answered about this preventative method.<\/p>\n

Studies do show that increasing awareness is very important so that at-risk individuals can make the most of HIV PrEP.<\/p>\n

If you need some information about it and you\u2019re not exactly confident how on-demand HIV PrEP is to be taken, the following guide will shed some light on the biggest essentials.<\/p>\n

The Importance of HIV PrEP Awareness<\/h2>\n

Recent studies show that educating people about HIV PrEP and increasing their awareness level boosts their desire to give it a try. Of the people who took on HIV PrEP, the infection rates and the need to take HIV PEP<\/a> (post-exposure prophylaxis) were low.<\/p>\n

Another study conducted in France, however, suggests that many questions about the nature of on-demand HIV PrEP are to be answered.\u00a0According to the French researchers, there\u2019s often a confusion about the schedule that should be followed when taking on-demand PrEP.<\/p>\n

The conclusion of the study is pretty simple. People should be provided with a unified message about when to start and stop PrEP in order to enjoy optimal benefits from this preventative methodology.<\/p>\n

On-Demand HIV PrEP Essentials<\/h2>\n

In many countries, the medication administered as HIV PrEP is Truvada<\/a> (a combination of daily tenofir disoproxil fumarate<\/a> and emtricitabine<\/a>. There are other parts of the world, however, where Truvada is not covered under the national healthcare system. The UK is one example of such a country and as a result, people living in these parts of the world often turn to generic versions of the medications to reduce their risk of HIV infection.<\/p>\n

But why is this medication known as on-demand PrEP?<\/p>\n

These medications are often called event-based.\u00a0On-demand\u00a0PrEP is recommended for high risk individuals like men who have sex with men and sex workers.\u00a0For optimal efficiency, On-demand HIV PrEP should be taken according to a schedule \u2013 two tablets 2 to 24 hours before having intercourse, one tablet 24 hours after the first two and one more pill 24 hours later. This is known as the 2-1-1 scheme.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Schematic from WHO.INT 2-1-1 technical brief article https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/bitstream\/handle\/10665\/325955\/WHO-CDS-HIV-19.8-eng.pdf?ua=1<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

On-demand PrEP has already gotten World Health Organization (WHO) endorsement. Various other reputable entities like the European AIDS Clinical Society and the International AIDS Society-USA have also endorsed the medication.<\/p>\n

The Effectiveness of On-Demand PrEP<\/h2>\n

On-demand PrEP is an excellent choice for the individuals who can plan their sexual activity and undertake the respective precautionary measures.<\/p>\n

In most countries where on-demand PrEP is available, there\u2019s a simple procedure to follow in order to get access to the medications. A medical consultation and STD testing<\/a> will both be required before a PrEP supply is provided. In Singapore, the procedure is pretty much the same as in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

But what do we know about the effectiveness<\/a> of on-demand PrEP so far?<\/p>\n

A new US study was presented in June 2020 to reveal the results of taking on-demand PrEP for HIV prevention<\/a>. The information was presented in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.<\/p>\n

Researchers worked with 279 male volunteers who were put on the 2-1-1 HIV PrEP scheme. During the study period (three months), none of the participants in the study became HIV-positive. What\u2019s interesting to note is that some of the study participants reported missing an occasional dose of their medications.<\/p>\n

Recent studies from European countries have revealed similar findings.<\/p>\n

Obviously, these studies have some limitations. The samples are pretty small and it will be very important to follow volunteers for a much longer period of time in order to have highly reliable results. Current studies, however, are quite positive and they show us just how great of an innovation on-demand HIV PrEP is.<\/p>\n

Getting Started with On-Demand PrEP<\/h2>\n

Getting started with on-demand HIV PrEP is fairly simple. For the purpose, however, you should first assess your sexual behaviour and your risk of contracting a serious STD<\/a> like HIV.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t know if you\u2019re a good candidate for on-demand PrEP, visiting a reputable Singaporean medical facility like Shim Clinic<\/a> could be a good idea. At Shim Clinic, you\u2019ll get a thorough consultation about HIV prevention and whether on-demand PrEP is a good choice for you.<\/p>\n

The most important thing to remember is that the so-called loading dose of on-demand HIV PrEP should be taken 24 hours before planned intercourse.<\/p>\n

If you plan to have sex more than one time over the course of a week, you only need to take one additional tablet as a loading dose 24 hours before intercourse.<\/p>\n

Whenever the next type of sexual activity occurs more than seven days after taking the right pill as a part of the 2-1-1 scheme, you will need to repeat it in its entirety (namely: having two pills 24 hours before sex, one pill 24 hours later and one pill 24 hours after that).<\/p>\n

All of this may seem somewhat confusing at first but once you get established in the routine, taking your on-demand HIV PrEP without missing a dose will become a fairly simple task.<\/p>\n

Depending on your needs, you can also stop taking the medication or make the switch from on-demand PrEP to daily PrEP. Taking PrEP on a daily basis is recommended whenever you consistently engage in high-risk behaviour. Keep in mind that in such instances, you will have to go through a lead-in period of seven days.<\/p>\n

If you have questions about HIV PrEP and other methods of prevention, please contact Shim Clinic<\/a> today. Alternatively, you can come to our clinic every day of the week (check out our working hours in the website footer).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Studies show it\u2019s very important to educate at-risk individuals about the basics of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). When such information is provided, effectiveness increases and the need to administer post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP goes down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hiv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2806"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2810,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2806\/revisions\/2810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shimclinic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}