The yearly meeting of the ImPrEP Consortium, a project dedicated to pre-exposure prophilaxy against HIV, was held online on 15 and 16 December last year. The event was attended by representatives of the Consortium in Mexico and Peru, as well as by representatives of Unitaid, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the Ministry of Health, and by Fiocruz president, Nísia Trindade. Fiotec was represented by collaborators Lidiane Lima and Camilla Portugal, of the Projects area.

The meetings addressed subjects related to the studies of the project, which is about to finalize its results and negotations to expand new research activities. On the first day of the event, the director of the Evandro Chagas National Infectiology Institute (INI/Fiocruz) and the ImPrEP representative, Dr. Valdiléia Veloso, presented the general vision of the project and the general results of the demonstration studies.

The coordinator of PrEP Brazil at Fiocruz, Dr. Brenda Hoagland, lectured on the therapy in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic that began in March 2020. There were Q&A sessions and also a presentation of qualitative studies in Peru, with Peruvian researcher Carlos Cáceres.

On December 16, the first table addressed scientific dissemination of knowledge regarding PrEP and was attended by the project’s communication and marketing consultant, Jacinto Corrêa. After a survey among physicians, two sub-studies were presented: HIV self-test and sero-incidence.

The table on economic studies was attended by health professionals Dr. Paula Luz, from Brazil, and Dr. Annick Borquez, from Peru. Wrapping up the first part of th day, a study was presented on the value chain of Cabotegravir, an anti retroviral drug that inhibits integrase, in addition to the table Discreet Choices Experiments, with representatives from Peru and Mexico.

After the interval, the head of the STDs and AIDS Clinical Research Laboratory of the Evandro Chagas National Infectiology Institute (INI/Fiocruz) talked about the future of ImPrEP and new perspectives. The event ended with an assembly for final comments, with Dr. Valdiléia and Unitaid representative, Heather Ingold.

On ImPrEP
Supported by Fiotec, ImPrEP was launched in 2017, with representatives of institutions from three countries: Brazil, Mexico and Peru. Financed by Unitaid and led by Fiocruz by means of the STDs/Aids Clinical Research Laboratory (LaPClin-Aids), the project aims to reduce the risk of infection by HIV by providing anti retroviral drugs.