{"title":"Chemistry of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Brazil’s Protagonism in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS: Exploring the Theme with High School Seniors","authors":"Mateus Ladeira, M. Miranda","doi":"10.17807/orbital.v15i1.18047","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection consists in using antiretroviral medicine before sexual exposure to the virus to decrease probability of infection. The PrEP is capable of preventing the virus infection and promoting a healthier sexual life. Brazil has been a reference in HIV treatment not only because it was the first country in Latin America to offer free antiretroviral treatment to virus carriers but also because it participated in the Initiative in Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (iPrEP), a study that was carried out in several countries worldwide and proved effectiveness of the PrEP. Medication distributed by the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) is quite unknown to the population. To mitigate current proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and increase in pregnancy cases among adolescents, sexual orientation has been intensified in schools and, thus, it has also become their responsibility, rather than parents’ responsibility alone. Therefore, this study aimed at carrying out dynamic and dialogic interventions about the PrEP in classes taught to High School seniors who attend technical courses in Commerce and in Development of Digital Games at the Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro - Campus Uberlândia Centro, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. A dialogical Chemistry class was taught to show students several images and chemical structures of active ingredients found in the medication (PrEP). Besides, students answered a questionnaire with open questions anonymously to evaluate the effect of the class on their learning about sexual education, HIV/AIDS and, mainly, the PrEP. Students showed much interest in the tasks and interacted positively. Results of the questionnaire enabled to observe students’ increase in knowledge about the PrEP. In sum, this study enabled the PrEP to be better disseminated, since doubts were mitigated.","PeriodicalId":19680,"journal":{"name":"Orbital: The Electronic Journal of Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Orbital: The Electronic Journal of Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v15i1.18047","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection consists in using antiretroviral medicine before sexual exposure to the virus to decrease probability of infection. The PrEP is capable of preventing the virus infection and promoting a healthier sexual life. Brazil has been a reference in HIV treatment not only because it was the first country in Latin America to offer free antiretroviral treatment to virus carriers but also because it participated in the Initiative in Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (iPrEP), a study that was carried out in several countries worldwide and proved effectiveness of the PrEP. Medication distributed by the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) is quite unknown to the population. To mitigate current proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and increase in pregnancy cases among adolescents, sexual orientation has been intensified in schools and, thus, it has also become their responsibility, rather than parents’ responsibility alone. Therefore, this study aimed at carrying out dynamic and dialogic interventions about the PrEP in classes taught to High School seniors who attend technical courses in Commerce and in Development of Digital Games at the Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro - Campus Uberlândia Centro, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. A dialogical Chemistry class was taught to show students several images and chemical structures of active ingredients found in the medication (PrEP). Besides, students answered a questionnaire with open questions anonymously to evaluate the effect of the class on their learning about sexual education, HIV/AIDS and, mainly, the PrEP. Students showed much interest in the tasks and interacted positively. Results of the questionnaire enabled to observe students’ increase in knowledge about the PrEP. In sum, this study enabled the PrEP to be better disseminated, since doubts were mitigated.
预防人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)感染的暴露前预防(PrEP)包括在与病毒发生性接触之前使用抗逆转录病毒药物,以减少感染的可能性。PrEP能够预防病毒感染,促进更健康的性生活。巴西在艾滋病毒治疗方面一直是一个参考,不仅因为它是拉丁美洲第一个向病毒携带者提供免费抗逆转录病毒治疗的国家,还因为它参与了暴露前预防倡议(iPrEP),这是一项在全球几个国家开展的研究,证明了PrEP的有效性。巴西公共卫生系统(SUS)分发的药物对人口来说是相当陌生的。为了减轻目前性传播疾病的扩散和青少年怀孕案例的增加,学校加强了性取向教育,因此性取向也成为学生的责任,而不仅仅是家长的责任。因此,本研究旨在对在巴西米纳斯吉拉斯州联邦学院(Instituto Federal do tringulo Mineiro)就读商业和数字游戏开发技术课程的高中毕业生进行动态和对话干预。一门对话化学课向学生展示了药物(PrEP)中有效成分的几幅图像和化学结构。此外,学生们还以匿名方式回答了一份开放性问题问卷,以评估课程对他们在性教育、艾滋病毒/艾滋病以及主要是PrEP方面的学习效果。学生们对任务表现出浓厚的兴趣,并积极互动。问卷调查的结果可以观察到学生对PrEP知识的增加。总之,本研究可以更好地传播PrEP,因为减轻了疑虑。
期刊介绍:
Orbital: The Electronic Journal of Chemistry is a quarterly scientific journal published by the Institute of Chemistry of the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Original contributions (in English) are welcome, which focus on all areas of Chemistry and their interfaces with Pharmacy, Biology, and Physics. Neither authors nor readers have to pay fees. The journal has an editorial team of scientists drawn from regions throughout Brazil and world, ensuring high standards for the texts published. The following categories are available for contributions: 1. Full papers 2. Reviews 3. Papers on Education 4. History of Chemistry 5. Short communications 6. Technical notes 7. Letters to the Editor The Orbital journal also publishes a number of special issues in addition to the regular ones. The central objectives of Orbital are threefold: (i) to provide the general scientific community (at regional, Brazilian, and worldwide levels) with a formal channel for the communication and dissemination of the Chemistry-related literature output by publishing original papers based on solid research and by reporting contributions which further knowledge in the field; (ii) to provide the community with open, free access to the full content of the journal, and (iii) to constitute a valuable channel for the dissemination of Chemistry-related investigations.