Malta needs to step up fight against HIV epidemic, MGRM says

The Malta Gay Rights Movement has called for increased access to HIV testing at the genitourinary (GU) clinic, more focus on preventive treatment and a push to make sure people are on the most effective medication.

Today marks World AIDS Day and the NGO said that in order to end the HIV epidemic in Malta, the island required a watertight strategy focused on this objective.

UNAIDS has set an ambitious target where 90% of people with HIV know they are infected, 90% of those are on medication, and 90% of those on medication are undetectable and untransmittable.

MGRM said that a push was required in Malta to achieve these targets through increased access to testing at the GU clinic, improving the medical regimen to make sure patients are on modern and effective treatment, and to ensure that preventative treatment is readily available.

“Malta is on the cusp of strengthening all three pillars, yet something is clearly not working as it should be. Even with reduced testing in 2020, Malta saw 78 new diagnoses of which at least one was an AIDS diagnosis. Whilst more testing would consequently mean more diagnoses, the peculiarity of this year is that testing has decreased substantially yet diagnoses remain high,” MGRM said.

The NGO highlighted that HIV medication had advanced greatly to the point where people living with HIV can have normal life expectancies, making the virus in their body undetectable.

“More importantly, it makes the virus untransmittable. Therefore, people with HIV, who are on effective medication have no health risks, and zero risks of passing on the virus. This scientific advancement could mean the end of the virus,” the MGRM said.

MGRM said the GU clinic has now been equipped with modern testing facilities, including rapid tests for HIV, Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia, and crucially, excellent healthcare professionals.

“These professionals have however been crippled by COVID-19 measures that have all but ground them to a complete halt in 2020. Now that we seem to be approaching the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, we appeal to the authorities to devise and implement a plan to start resuming regular testing,” the NGO said.

The MGRM said that when it comes to medication, it has been informed that new HIV medication that replaces the current severely outdated medication, has arrived in Malta, but it is not yet being distributed and dispensed to patients.

The NGO said that while it does not wish to criticise consultants and medical professionals, a plan to focus on HIV needed to resume. “Medication that is available needs to be distributed if we want to regain control of this virus.”

MGRM also said that it was important that preventative treatment was readily available especially amongst the population most vulnerable to HIV. It said that treatment exists in the form of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), which is a pill that when taken regularly by someone who is not already living with HIV reduces the risk of transmission by more than 99%.

“A prevention strategy that includes PrEP and condoms would mean that everyone is fully armed against all STIs. Just like the two other pillars, we are on the cusp of widespread distribution, yet at a current cost of EUR57 monthly, if taken daily, the medication remains inaccessible to those who are living with limited means,” the NGO said.