A local community health leader believes the ongoing meth crisis is raising the risk for an outbreak of new HIV infections in Manitoba and a pair of medical students has put forward one idea for prevention.
A recent syphilis outbreak in Manitoba, reaching new populations where infections have traditionally been lower, is believed to be a symptom of a rise in meth use.
Fourth-year medical students Chris Briggs and Lucas Vasas say a medication exists that has been proven effective at preventing HIV infection and the cost should be covered for Manitobans at high-risk.
"They're drugs that are normally used to treat HIV but people who are at risk of HIV infection can take them every day and it's very, very effective in preventing HIV infection,” said Briggs.
Their push began with an advocacy assignment last year.
“Lucas and I are both members of the LGBTQ community which is often overrepresented in rates of HIV infection,” Briggs told CTV News.
Since then, they’ve submitted a briefing note to Health Minister Cameron Friesen, asking him to consider covering HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, medication for high-risk patients.
Vasas said high-risk people include those who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, sex workers and those who are in a serious relationships where one partner is HIV positive and one is HIV negative.
The most common PrEP drug is called Truvada. Briggs says studies have shown if taken consistently it’s more than 90 per cent effective in preventing HIV.
"The nice thing about Truvada is that it's recently come off patent so it's much cheaper than it used to be," said Briggs, who put the monthly cost at around $187.
“Really, the people who are the most at risk, that's a barrier that's near impossible to overcome," he said.
Michael Payne, executive director of Nine Circles Community Health Centre, which specializes in HIV treatment, said he supports coverage of drugs for both prevention and treatment of the virus.
"Both of those are really smart both economically and really it’s the right thing to do for the community," he said.
Payne said it’s especially true now with the current outbreak of syphilis linked to an increase in IV drug use.
"That's a clear indicator that, you know, we should be expecting and HIV outbreak to follow those kinds of things and so now would be a particularly good time to fund this stuff," said Payne.
Other provinces cover the cost of HIV PrEP. British Columbia expanded coverage at the beginning of 2018 and since then, 3,300 prescriptions have been filled.
A Manitoba government spokesperson tells CTV News, "Manitoba public health officials are reviewing the recommendations of the Common Drug Review recommendations around the use of the drug for prevention, and how this could be done in Manitoba."
- With files from CTV's Michelle Gerwing
