The federal government is, for the first time, funding a pilot program that will provide generic pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications to prevent HIV. Specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made about $7 million available for PrEP programs in jurisdictions already receiving funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States initiative.

 

The initiative targets counties, cities and other jurisdictions that account for a disproportionate number of new HIV cases and are prime recipients of PrEP efforts. As the federal government explains in its funding description:

 

“Jurisdictions with greater need for PrEP and lower uptake among priority populations disproportionately affected by HIV and low PrEP prescriptions (i.e., Black and Latino gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men…and Black cisgender and transgender women) need these additional resources and flexibility to accelerate PrEP uptake through patient navigation/case management services and improve access to and utilization of existing PrEP services not covered by other financial resources.”

 

In addition to supporting PrEP access and uptake, the CDC funding available to health departments will support efforts to increase awareness of and access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which refers to antiretroviral medications taken soon after a potential exposure to HIV in order to prevent infection, as well as doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP) to prevent the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea.  

 

The CDC funding was announced August 1. The formal title of the funding opportunity is High-Impact HIV Prevention and Surveillance Programs for Health Departments: Accelerating Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Uptake for Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States.

 

For several years, PrEP advocates have pressured the government to fund a national PrEP program to make the prevention tool available to those who need it most. Advocates from PrEP in Black America and PrEP4All, among others, praise this new funding opportunity.