KASEMPA District Health Office has implored residents to utilise the pre-exposure and post exposure prophylaxis (PreP and Pep) services to prevent new HIV infections.

District Health Director, Morphine Mweene, has further called on the residents to take advantage of preventive measures that have been adopted to prevent new infections.

Dr Mweene said this in an interview with Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Kasempa today.

“When it comes to preventive measures there are measures that we put in place in terms of how we can prevent new infections,” he added.

Dr Mweene disclosed that Prep was a treatment that helps in the prevention of contracting the HIV virus from an infected person.

“If for example I know that I am married to someone who is positive and I know that I am negative, me who is negative, I am supposed to be put on medication to protect myself from getting infected,” he explained.

He further stated that post exposure prophylaxis was a service offered to people who had previously been exposed to HIV infected person.

“This is a prophylaxis that we give after you have exposed yourself, this one you have to come within  73 hours, the earlier you come the better,” Dr Mweene said.

He noted that the utilisation of these services will help in the reduction of new HIV infections cases in the district.