A study titled Monitoring Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for Young Adult Women enrolled adolescents between 18 and 24 years to get to know how they take the drug.
The gadget resembles a power bank and it monitors drug usage among adolescents and allows researchers to access data daily.
The study is the first in Kenya and it will be conducted in Kisumu and Thika.
Researchers have designed a new device to monitor patients’ compliance to antiretroviral drugs uptake after being exposed to HIV.
The dispenser known as Wisepill is a small medicine box with a GSM communication chip to send a message if a dose is missed.
The pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs are given within seven days of exposure to HIV to stop infection.
Wisepill is targeting HIV-uninfected adolescent women.
The gadget is on trial at Centre for Microbiology Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri).
A study titled Monitoring Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for Young Adult Women enrolled adolescents between 18 and 24 years to get to know how they take the drug.
The gadget resembles a power bank and it monitors drug usage among adolescents and allows researchers to access data daily.
The study is the first in Kenya and it will be conducted in Kisumu and Thika.
Kevine Kamollo, the survey co-ordinator said the gadget help young women beat stigma.
“Studies done previously have shown that adolescents defaulted in taking PrEP yet they are the most at risk. We want to know how they take the drug. We have incorporated technology to enable the youths to take their pills daily,” he said.
HIV/Aids is the leading cause of death among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa and is the second cause of mortality among youth worldwide.
Over two million adolescents between the age group of 10 and 19 are living with HIV, and millions more are at risk of infection every year.
In Kenya, Aids is the number one cause of death and disability among youth aged between 10 and 24.
According to estimates by the National Aids Control Council, 435,225 adolescents aged between 10 and 19 are HIV positive, while another 119,899 have the virus “but have not been identified.”
The Health ministry said there are at least 195,299 adolescents on anti-retroviral treatment and another 315,000 who need it.
The ministry attributes the new infections to early sex where 20 per cent of youths aged between 15 and 24 had sex for the first time before their 15th birthday.
A report by the United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids) revealed that teenage girls in sub-Saharan Africa are five times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys.
Nearly half of all adolescents living with HIV globally are in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa are girls.
Apart from monitoring adherence, the study would also test the acceptability and functionality of the gadget and whether people are going to use it and moving forward if it can be used to enhance PrEP uptake.
“People have been complaining about the bottle with a rattling sound and that’s why we want to compare the two,” said Mr Kamollo.
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