Monday, October 24, to Monday, October 31, is PrEP Aware Week 2022, a campaign to raise awareness of HIV prevention medications. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is available in the United States as either tablets taken daily or an injection administered every other month. 

The theme of PrEP Aware Week 2022 is “Portraits of PrEP.” As such, the campaign features eight New Yorkers who take PrEP discussing their experiences to raise awareness of the HIV prevention method. You can watch videos of the PrEP ambassadors on the campaign’s YouTube channel and its website. Another sample video is below:

The AIDS Institute in New York launched PrEP Aware week in 2019. Although it is an initiative of New York state, the idea is catching on across the nation, with several cities and organizations using PrEP Aware Week to promote HIV-prevention campaigns and events. For example, here’s a campaign from Reading, Pennsylvania:

PrEP is highly effective at preventing HIV. The POZ Basics on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis offers more details and a quick history:

When antiretroviral medication builds up in the human body, it can stop HIV from replicating and establishing an infection. PrEP was approved in 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the requirement that it be used every day, even during periods of minimal or low-risk sexual activity. Studies are exploring intermittent dosing strategies (for example, using PrEP only during high-risk periods) as well as different medications that could be used as PrEP. In 2021, the first long-lasting injectable form of PrEP was approved.

 

PrEP only works if you take it. Data from the iPrEx trial show that daily adherence of oral PrEP reduces HIV risk between 96% and greater than 99%. Those who took four doses a week remained fully protected, and those who took two lowered their chance of getting HIV by 76%. Data from the HPTN 083 and HPTN 084 studies showed that long-acting injectable regimens are even more effective than PrEP pills at preventing HIV acquisition.

The awareness campaign arrives as coverage of PrEP under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is being debated in the courts. (Per federal guidelines, PrEP is currently covered under the ACA.) For a collection of POZ articles on this HIV prevention, click #PrEP. You’ll find headlines such as: