44 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | HEALTH
Qsaltlake.com | ISSUE 312 | JUNE, 2020
Utah AIDS Foundation endorses 2-1-1 PrEP non-daily dosing regimen The San Francisco AIDS Foundation launched a study of a non-daily dosing regimen for HIV prevention early last year that showed such efficacy in blocking the transmission of HIV that the World Health Organization endorsed it a year ago this month. The Unitred States Food and Drug Administration has not yet put its stamp of approval, however. The Utah AIDS Foundation became the first Utah health organization to officially endorse the dosing regimen as well. “The science supporting the efficacy of event-based PrEP has been around since 2008 and is commonly used in many European countries,” wrote Ahmer Afroz, UAF’s executive director. “With the World Health Organization endorsing the protocol this past June, several agencies around the U.S. have begun to endorse the protocol as well.” “Through consultation with some of Utah’s foremost infectious disease clinicians working in HIV prevention, treatment, and care, the Utah AIDS Foundation is proud to be the first agency in Utah to openly endorse the efficacy of the ED-PrEP regimen,” Afroz continued. “The science is there, and we will always strive to provide and advocate for high impact evidence-based tools that the communities we serve deserve. It is important to note that the on ED-PrEP protocol is currently not FDA approved and should be considered through consultation with your medical provider.”
To learn more about the protocol, we encourage you to visit our website, utahaids.org, and reference the WHO technical brief accessed at https://www. who.int/hiv/pub/prep/211/en/.”
What is Event-Driven PrEP? Event-based PrEP (ED-PrEP), commonly referred to as on-demand PrEP or PrEP 2-1-1, is taking Truvada only around the time of sex or potential HIV transmission. This is instead of taking Truvada daily. The dosing regimen is geared toward
people who are sexually active only on occasion and therefore might not need the daily dose of Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis that is currently recommended by the FDA. Specifically, the 2-1-1 dosing requires you to do the following: take two tablets of Truvada (a double dose) at least two hours before you anticipate having sex, but preferably 24 hours beforehand. If sex
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does happen, take another pill 24 hours and then 48 hours after the double dose. If you have sex again (meaning the day after your first encounter), then take one tablet every day you have sex, plus a pill 24 hours after the last dose (the last day you have sex) and then again 24 hours after that. In other words, you take PrEP during a short period when you’re having sex, and you don’t take PrEP when you’re not having sex.
Who should consider ED-PrEP? ED-PrEP is only for cisgender men who have sex with cisgender men. It has not been studied for cis-gender or transgender women, and in fact researchers believe it will not work for vaginal/ frontal sex. According to WHO, ED-PrEP is not appropriate for cisgender women, transgender women, transgender men having vaginal/frontal sex, men having vaginal or anal sex with women, or people with chronic Hepatitis B infection.
Where can I get PrEP? blackBOOTS Salt Lake City hosts a page of PrEP resources at blackbootsslc.org/ prep-resources for insured and uninsured people. On it you can find a long list of Utah doctors across the state that are prescribing PrEP to their clients. For those who are uninsured, the University of Utah Health Department has a Free PrEP Clinic. Information is available at slcPrEPisfree.org
Things to consider
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While PrEP failures are rare, they can occur. This is also true of the ED-PrEP protocol and we encourage all those interested to research their options and consult a medical provider before beginning the protocol.It is important to note that since this protocol is currently not FDA approved, some providers may refuse to endorse the 2-1-1 protocol. Q For more information, go to UtahAids.org or blackbootsslc. org/prep-resources.
