By Emily Largent
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recently conducted a survey of gay and bisexual men in the U.S. focusing on attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with HIV/AIDS. The survey results, released Thursday, can be found here. I was most interested in the finding that only a quarter of those surveyed know about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis).
PrEP (brand name Truvada) is a combination of two medicines (tenofovir and emtricitabine) that has, if taken consistently, been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who are high risk by up to 92%. The FDA approved an indication for the use of Truvada “in combination with safer sex practices for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 in adults at high risk” in 2012. The U.S. Public Health Service released the first comprehensive clinical practice guidelines in May of this year.
It’s been said that PrEP has the potential to change the course of HIV in the U.S. Yet, only 26% of the gay and bisexual men surveyed by KFF know about PrEP; 31% believe no such medication exists, and 43% say they don’t know. This, despite the fact that an estimated 12-13% of gay and bisexual men in the U.S. are living with HIV (more than 20 times the rate among the general population), and from 2008 to 2010, HIV incidence increased among men who have sex with men (12% increase) while remaining stable or declining among injection drug users and heterosexuals of all races.
