Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542182
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 DECEMBER 2025 NEWS 457 received prevention HIV medication THE GU Clinic issued prescriptions for medication that helps prevent HIV infection to 457 patients in 2025, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela told parliament. The number of people taking PrEP medication includes those with ongoing follow-up appointments at the GU Clinic and new patients, who were prescribed the treatment for the first time this year. The information comes from a parliamentary reply to a question put by Opposition MP Graziella Attard Previ. PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis and is a pill taken before sex to protect the person from HIV infection. According to Sexual Health Malta, the government's sexual health portal, PrEP is recommended for individuals who have an increased risk of getting HIV and the medication is extremely effective when taken properly. The portal recommends the medication be taken by people: Who have been diagnosed with STIs in the previous six months; are not in a mutualy monogamous relationship with a partner; have recently needed PEPs (medication taken after being exposed to HIV risk); gay or bisexual men who have had anal sex without condom use; heterosexual men or women who do not regularly use condoms during sex with partners of unknown HIV status; people who inject drugs for recreational use or use drugs for chemsex; individuals who have an HIV positive partner who is finding it difficult to take their HIV medication regularly; sex workers; and people who have sexual partners living with HIV and have a high viral load. Oral PrEP is usually a one pill regime containing a combination of two anti-HIV m e d i c a t i o n s — E m t r i c i t a b i n e and Tenofovir. PrEP is only prescribed to patients who do not have HIV. The health minister informed parliament that throughout 2025 the GU Clinic issued 1,081 prescriptions for PrEP. He explained that every patient visits the clinic around twice or three times a year to test themselves and receive the prescription. Every prescription is valid for three months. The majority of patients take PrEP on demand, the minister added, which means they will need between two and three prescriptions per year. Patients who take PrEP on a daily basis are issued four prescriptions per year. The government had promised to include PrEP and PEP medication for free on the national health service formulary but is still in the process of doing s o despite having announced the decision in December last year. In another parliamentary reply earlier in December, the health minister confirmed that 721 people are currently living with HIV in Malta. He also said 125 new HIV cases were diagnosed up to 28 N o v e m b e r 2025. R e c e n t figures released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show Malta's HIV situation worsening, with the country recording the highest per capita rate of new HIV diagnoses in Europe for the second consecutive year. Activists have expressed mounting frustration at what they describe as years of government delay, silence and broken promises on HIV prevention and treatment. KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt