New Policy Proposal Seeks to Improve Access to Medications that Prevent HIV Infection
Bloomberg faculty and others release proposal for financing and delivering PrEP
About the Policy Proposal
Johns Hopkins faculty and colleagues released a proposal for a national program to finance and distribute medications that prevent HIV infection, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
The goal of the proposal is to scale up access to PrEP substantially in order to help end the HIV epidemic.
The recently updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2022-2025 recognizes the need for much greater use of PrEP. In 2019, less than 25% of people eligible for PrEP received a prescription. And disparities based on race/ethnicity, gender, and geography are enormous.
However, many people who need PrEP cannot get it, nearly 10 years after the medications first became available in the United States. The reasons for poor access include high prices, expensive laboratory tests, excessive requirements for free services, and limited availability in many parts of the country.
With funding from Arnold Ventures, authors of the proposal consulted with more than 30 experts in HIV, pharmaceutical, and laboratory policy, federal partners, governmental public health leaders, and PrEP consumers.
The proposal recommends a national prep program guided by these principles: accessibility, equity, simplicity, affordability, sustainability, and adaptability.
The proposal is posted in advance of publication in 2022 in the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics.
Comments about the proposal can be shared at prepproposal@jhu.edu.
For More Information:
Read commentary on the proposal, "Building Race and Gender Equity into a National PrEP Program."
Read the press release on the special edition of the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics.
Watch the webinar on the proposal.
Access the presentation slides from presenters Kenyon Farrow, Jeromie Ballreich, and Jeremiah Johnson.