Damon Jacobs, New York-based MFT, advocate and HIV prevention educator, author, and expert in the field of PrEP joins the show today. He and David discuss what PrEP is, where people can get it, and the major changes it is making in the field of HIV and harm reduction. Damon discusses the changes PrEP has made since it’s come out, who could benefit from using it, and the amazing avenues he and his team are providing for intelligent and meaningful conversations on the subject.

TAKEAWAYS:

[1:43] PrEP is the use of the antiretroviral drug Truvada, to prevent zero conversion of HIV, should someone be exposed.

[2:05] Damon has been an HIV Prevention Educator since 1991, a time when communities were being decimated by the AIDS epidemic. Damon saw that to have integrity in the role, it meant he needed to get out and help communities learn about safe sex to the best of his own ability. He personally started using PrEP in 2011, and the FDA approved it in 2012.

[5:53] PrEP is a daily pill that blocks the T cells of someone with HIV duplicating and replicating in the individual taking the pill Truvada, which is a combination of two drugs, tenofovir and emtricitabine.

[9:30] Damon sees some of the positive “side effects” of PrEP being that people are getting more physicals, and getting regular STI checks.

[12:07] The Magnet Clinic in San Francisco reported that 91% of people they start on PrEP come to their clinic because they already gave up using condoms, or they are inconsistent in their use.

[14:53] Studies have shown that you may not need to take PrEP daily if you are able to predict and organize when you do have sex. You can double up on use, but it is something that should be discussed with an expert.

[19:14] Damon’s Facebook group, PrEP Facts Rethinking HIV Prevention and Sex, has 21,200 international members and is a safe place for people to come and have intelligent and meaningful conversations about the subject.

[22:17] The U.S. has seen a historical drop from 50,000 new cases a year to 38,000 new cases, and PrEP was partially attributed to that. There are also drops in new HIV diagnosis in cities where it is widely implemented and normalized like San Francisco and New York.

[24:31] There are many avenues for people in the United States to get PrEP for a low cost or free because of existing financial support systems.

[27:28] There are three documented cases where an individual was adhering to PrEP and they did acquire HIV. However, there is very little risk involved and the benefits are huge.

RESOURCES:

Patient Advocate Foundation

Absolutely Should-Less

QUOTES:

● “We can recall that knowing people with AIDS meant losing people to AIDS.”

● “PrEP will soon be an umbrella term, like the way we use birth control today, to describe different interventions.”

● “You don’t need an agency anymore, a WiFi connection will get the word out about PrEP.”

● “There is no more exciting time than now to be doing this work.”

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