The expression ‘different strokes for different folks’ means that everyone has their own way of doing things or approaching life. It also means different things appeal to different people - different people like or need different things. This saying recognizes that one man’s food is another man’s poison. It is therefore important to increase the range of options available so that all men can have access to ‘food’.
The contraception field recognized this need very early and therefore developed various contraception options suitable for different people in different situations and different context.
There are therefore contraception methods that are medically (barrier method, gels, rings, pills, injectable, implants, surgical procedures) and non-medically dependent (withdrawal, Billy’s method).
There are methods that can be used by the woman (barrier method, gels, rings, pills, injectable, implants, surgical procedures, Billy’s method) and those that can be used by men (barrier method, surgical procedure, withdrawal).
There are also modern contraception methods that are short acting (male and female condoms, IUCD, gel, diaphragm, pills) and long acting (injectables, implants).
The HIV prevention field is also working to increase the options of we all have to HIV prevention commodities. Well known and proven tools for prevention of HIV infection include the use of barriers (male and female condoms), oral pills (use of antiretroviral as pre-exposure prophylaxis), and surgical intervention (medical male circumcision).
Education and support for change in high risk behavior have also helped (reduction of multiple sexual partners, delay in sexual debut, and improved condom negotiation skills during transactional sex, and consistent and correct use of condom).
The use of various medicines can also prevent HIV infection. Regular check-up and treatment of sexually transmitted infections reduce the risk for HIV infection. Also, the use of antiretrovirals within 72 hours of HIV exposure (post exposure prophylaxis) reduced the risk of having an established infection. More recently, scientific evidence has shown that when a person living with HIV is using antiretrovirals effectively, the viral load of the individual reduces so significantly that the individual is not able to transmit HIV infection to the sex partner.
There are however ongoing efforts to increase the range of HIV option tools for the general populace. Most recently, the vaginal ring which slowly releases antiretroviral over time when inserted into the vaginal was shown to be effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection in women. The ring is yet to be licensed for use.
Similarly, there are multiple studies looking at developing injectable PrEP, HIV vaccines, and PrEP as implants. These tools are at various phases of studies. We hope to see more and more of these results in the coming years.
The ultimate is a cure. There is no known cure for HIV infection. Only one person had ever been cured from HIV – Timothy Brown. There are however multiple ongoing HIV cure studies. Someday soon, with the amount of efforts and investment in the field, we sure will get to the desired goal of ending the global HIV epidemic – someday soon!
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