Access to a long-acting vaginal ring, which was tested in SA, is a step closer after the World Health Organisation gave it the seal of approval, reports TimesLIVE.
The ring received the thumbs up in July from the European Medicines Agency.
The silicone ring releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine for a month and reduces HIV infection by 35%. Women insert the product and replace it every month.
Prof Linda-Gail Bekker, deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and a principal South African investigator of The Ring study, said getting the prequalification status is good news. “It takes us another step towards access. It means that … WHO can also now write the use of the dapivirine ring into guidelines,” said Bekker.
Dr Sinéad Delany-Moretlwe, director of research at the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, said the WHO approval will expedite procurement of the ring.
Dr Zeda Rosenberg, founder and CEO of the ring's developers, the International Partnership for Microbicides, said the monthly vaginal ring, which is used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), could “help fill an important gap with a long-acting product that a woman controls and could use discreetly to reduce her HIV risk during vaginal sex”.
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