GENEVA / UNITAID ANTIVIRAL INJECTION

STORY: GENEVA / UNITAID ANTIVIRAL INJECTION
TRT: 3:44
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 18 MARCH 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

18 MARCH 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Hervé Verhoosel, spokesperson, UNITAID:
“L'Agence internationale UNITAID annonce aujourd'hui un accord pour commencer l'utilisation en Afrique du Sud et au Brésil d'une injection qui va pendant 8 semaines protéger les utilisateurs du VIH. Aujourd'hui, il y a déjà des possibilités orales de le faire, c'est de la PrEP orale. C'est un médicament qui doit être pris plus ou moins en fonction de la façon dont c'est prescrit, en fonction de la personne qui le prend. Mais je dirais bien régule souvent, c'est chaque jour. Et dans des pays comme l'Afrique du Sud, dans des pays comme le Brésil, il est parfois difficile de prendre ce produit chaque jour. Les gens oublient, les gens n'y pensent pas, les gens… Ce qui fait que le résultat n'est pas toujours très positif. Nous avons donc commencé avec les autorités de ces pays et également avec nos partenaires locaux, un programme pour commencer l'implémentation de cette injection qui vont durer pendant 8 semaines et qui va toucher un public très particulier. Ce sont les adolescents et les jeunes femmes en Afrique du Sud puisqu'elles sont aujourd'hui les premières visées est le premier touché par le VIH. Et les transgenres ou les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes au Brésil, qui sont également des couches de la population très touchés par le VIH. Bien sûr, nous parlons ici de VIH et pas des autres maladies sexuellement transmissibles, ce qui veut dire que la prévention ne doit pas être arrêté complètement. Ceci n’active que pour le VIH. Il est important de continuer à se protéger pour les autres infections, mais bien souvent, dans ces couches de population précise, les rapports sexuels se font parfois d’une façon, je dirais de dernière minute ou sans prévision, par exemple de préservatif. Et donc c'est pour cela qu'il est important de pouvoir être couvert pour ces périodes relativement longues. C'est bien sûr quelque chose qui est cher. Les États-Unis et l'Angleterre viennent d'approuver ce système. Ce n'est pas encore disponible. Mais si mes chiffres sont exacts, le coût aux États-Unis est de 22000$ par an. Bien évidemment, nous ne pouvons pas avoir un coût de 22000$ par an dans les pays en voie de développement. C'est pour cela qu'une idée d'exister, et c'est pour cela que nous négocions avec les pharmaceutiques pour avoir des coûts les moins chers possibles. Dans ce cas-ci, les premières doses ont été donné par les sociétés pharmaceutiques. Et pour le futur, nous appelons vraiment cette société à appliquer pour les pays à revenu faible ou modéré, à un taux ou un prix adapté à l'économie et aux besoins du pays. Il y a plus long terme de permettre, entre autres, grâce à UNITAID et au MPP, permettre des licences volontaires pour fabriquer des génériques. C'est quelque chose que nous faisons beaucoup dans diverses maladies, y compris pour le COVID. Nous avons annoncé ici récemment des accords avec les sociétés pharmaceutiques pour les produits COVID, par exemple. Voilà, si ça résume un petit peu la situation. Le nombre de personnes qui vont bénéficier de ces nouvelles fonctions n'est pas encore clairement déterminé puisqu'il faudra bien évidemment que les médecins prescrivent date au patient, donc nous nous pensons qu’il sera tout de même important. Nous avons les moyens de le faire de façon importante. Il faut savoir qu'en 2020, par exemple, globalement dans le monde, pour la PrEP orale, il n'y a eu que 1 million de nouveaux traitements, donc 1 million de personnes. En 2020, ce n'est pas assez. Il faut vraiment essayer de multiplier le nombre de personnes à ce traitant ou en tout cas, se couvrant avec la PrEP. Et se croit qu’ici, seule long-lasting est une bonne solution.”
(English translation) “The international agency, UNITAID, is announcing today an agreement to begin use in South Africa and Brazil of an injection that will protect users from HIV for 8 weeks. Today, there are already oral options to do this, it is oral PrEP. It's a drug that has to be taken more or less depending on how it's prescribed, depending on the person taking it. But I would say fairly often, it's every day. And in countries like South Africa, in countries like Brazil, it's sometimes difficult to take this product every day. People forget, people don't think about it, people... So, the result is not always very positive. So, we have started with the authorities of these countries and also with our local partners, a programme to start the implementation of this injection which will last for 8 weeks, and which will reach a very particular population. These are adolescents and young women in South Africa since they are the first targeted and the first affected by HIV. And transgender people or men who have sex with men in Brazil, which are also the sections of the population that are very affected by HIV. Of course, we are talking here about HIV and not about other sexually transmitted diseases, which means that prevention should not be stopped completely. This is only active for HIV. It is important to continue to protect oneself for other infections, but very often, in these specific populations, sex is sometimes done in a way, I would say at the last minute or without any provision, for example of condoms. And so that's why it's important to be able to be covered for those relatively long periods of time. It is of course something that is expensive. The United States and England have just approved this system. It's not available yet. But if my figures are correct, the cost in the United States is 22,000 USD a year. Obviously, we can't have a cost of 22,000 USD a year in developing countries. That's why UNITAID exists, and that's why we negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies to have the lowest possible costs. In this case, the first doses were donated by the pharmaceutical companies. And for the future, we really call on thess companies to apply for low- and moderate-income countries a rate or price that is adapted to the economy and the needs of the country. In the longer term, among other things, through UNITAID and the MPP, to allow voluntary licenses to make generics. This is something we are doing a lot in various diseases, including COVID. We have announced here recently agreements with pharmaceutical companies for COVID products, for example. So, if that sums it up a little bit. The number of people who will benefit from these new functions is not yet clearly determined since it will obviously be necessary for doctors to prescribe it to the patient, so we think that it will be significant. We have the means to do it in a big way. You have to know that in 2020, for example, globally, for oral PrEP, there were only one million new treatments, so one million people. In 2020, this is not enough. We really need to try to multiply the number of people on this treatment or at least covering themselves with PrEP. And believes that here, only long-lasting is a good solution."
4. Wide shot, press room

The first injection to offer long-lasting protection against HIV is being rolled out in South Africa and Brazil, as an alternative to daily medication.

UN agency UNITAID announced the ground-breaking development on Friday, which it is hoped will boost HIV prevention worldwide.

Developed by ViiV (pronounced VEEV) Healthcare and approved by the US health authority, the injection offers two months of protection against HIV. Its active ingredient is cabotegravir.

Like other HIV treatments, the anti-retroviral medication works by stopping the virus from replicating in the body, effectively reducing the viral load.

Although existing oral medication – known as “oral pre-exposure prophylaxis”, or oral PrEP - can prevent HIV in 99 per cent of cases, uptake has been slow and targets to reduce new infections have been missed.

The reasons for this include that people with HIV fear stigma, discrimination or intimate partner violence if they take the pill every day, said UNITAID spokesperson Herve Verhoosel.

Long-acting PrEP could have a game-changing impact, improving choice and making HIV prevention a more viable option for more people, Verhoosel told journalists in Geneva.

But he cautioned that the high cost of the injection – believed to be over 20,000 USD a year for wealthy nations – would be prohibitive elsewhere, so adequate and affordable supply must be ensured so people everywhere can benefit without delay.

In Brazil, UNITAID is supporting long-acting cabotegravir injections among transgender communities – 30 per cent of whom live with HIV - and men who have sex with men (18 per cent).

In South Africa, the target population is adolescent girls and young women, who are infected “at a disproportionately high rate”, the UN agency said.

In sub-Saharan Africa, six in seven new HIV infections in adolescents occur among girls, and young women are twice as likely to be living with HIV as their male peers, it noted.

In a related development on Friday, UNAIDS congratulated Zimbabwe for decriminalizing HIV transmission.

In a statement, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said public health goals are not served by denying people their individual rights and commended Zimbabwe for taking this hugely important step. She said this decision strengthens the HIV response in Zimbabwe by reducing the stigma and discrimination that too often prevents vulnerable groups of people from receiving HIV prevention, care and treatment services.

Byanyima’s comments followed the Zimbabwean Parliament’s decision to repeal section 79 of the Criminal Law Code on HIV transmission.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is also expected to sign into law a new marriage bill adopted by Parliament.

According to UNAIDS, Zimbabwe has made great progress in the response to HIV over the past decade.

It is estimated that 1.2 million of the 1.3 million people living with HIV in the country are now on life-saving medicines. AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 63 per cent since 2010, with new HIV infections down by 66 per cent over the same period.