PrEP + HIV (FAQS) W/ Dr. Marcus Tellez

It’s almost 2020, and despite this age of social media and mass information, I am still surprised at the misinformation spread online. As a community, we’ve had to look HIV/AIDS boldly in the face, more-so than our heterosexual counterparts. So, it shocks me when some of us promote misperceptions about sex, PrEP, and HIV on social media. 

Let’s touch on a few basic concepts.

What is PrEP?

PrEP stands for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and is a medication that can be taken once daily to protect against HIV. The current brand name out is called “Truvada” and is created by Gilead. Literally anyone can take PrEP and almost any doctor can prescribe it. Unfortunately there still remain many barriers preventing access due to lack of coverage, increased costs, and continued stigma.

What is the misconception about PrEP? 

On occasion, when I educate my followers about PrEP via Instagram (@Doctor.Tellez, you should follow me), my inbox is flooded by young gay men with the adamant belief that “all gays on PrEP bareback”. In the age of Grindr and dating apps, sure—advertising of “raw” sex (sex without condoms) is fairly common. Even healthcare providers have expressed concerns about a theoretical increase in STI rates resulting from PrEP. Rather than using anecdotal evidence, let’s look at the scientific data.

Evidence

In April 2019, JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) published an article entitled “Addressing the Sexually Transmitted Infection and HIV Syndemic”. It was a lovely article that you can read in its entirety on your own, but I’ll break it down. Essentially, a study was done to assess if PrEP users actually had higher STI rates than the general population. They did notice a 12% increase in the rate of STIs amongst PrEP users. However, the article discusses how condom usage amongst “men who have sex with men” was declining prior to PrEP coming to market; most likely because quality of life with HIV had improved, and fear surrounding HIV had decreased since the 80’s-90’s. Overall, even if STI rates are slightly higher amongst PrEP users, infections are more rapidly caught and treated. This means that over time, we can slowly decrease the STI burden within our community.

U=U

Beyond PrEP, it’s important to spread awareness that an HIV undetectable status means that HIV is virtually untransmittable (autocorrect needs to stop telling me that’s not a real word). It’s 2019 and somehow we as scientists and healthcare providers still haven’t got this to sink in to the general public. We have studies with thousands of participants proving this definitively (look up the PARTNER and PARTNER 2 studies).

In conclusion

While HIV is no longer a death sentence, we must continue fighting for our community so that treatment can be equally accessible to all. We must end the shame and stigma attached to PrEP use, sexual practices, and HIV status in both real life and on social media. And we must remember that tearing down members of our own community does nothing but tear us down as a whole. Uplift each other and remember those who fought to give us the rights we have today.

If you want to learn more about PrEP, check out:

https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/prep.html

If you want to find out where you can get PrEP, check out:

https://npin.cdc.gov/widgets/HCSO-Prep/HCSO-preplocator-widget/index.html#/

If you want to find an LGBT+ provider in your area, check out:

http://www.glma.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=939

And if you want to learn more about LGBT+ health, check out my Instagram @doctor.tellez