PrEP, PEP & nPEP

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis)  A comprehensive HIV prevention strategy that involves the daily use of antiretroviral medications to reduce the risk of HIV infection in HIV-negative individuals.

• PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) Taking antiretroviral medicines (ART) after being potentially exposed to HIV to prevent becoming infected.

nPEP (Non-occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) Short-term treatment started as soon as possible after high-risk non-occupational exposure to an infectious agent, such as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), or hepatitis C virus (HCV).

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COVID-19 PrEP Access Updates

• HHS Implements Override Request 
• Ready, Set, PrEP Expands* 
• Prior Authorization, Regional Disparities*
• PrEP During COVID-19 (HIV.gov)* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) understands that its partners in HIV prevention are facing unprecedented challenges and demands as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic together. CDC has developed guidance for providing PrEP when facility-based services and in-person patient-clinician contact is limited.

News & Resources

• CDC’s New #ShesWell Initiative Aims to Increase PrEP Awareness among Women and Their Healthcare Providers* (HIV.gov) CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together (Together) campaign recently launched a new initiative called #ShesWell, which is focused on increasing awareness about Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among women, building capacity among clinicians to prescribe PrEP to women who can benefit from it, and ultimately increasing PrEP use among women.

• NASTAD PrEP Coverage Brief: PrEP Services Covered with No Cost-Sharing. This National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) fact sheet walks through the coverage and cost-sharing requirements for public and private payers that come with this USPSTF Grade A recommendation. It summarizes federal guidance on implementing Preventive Services provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including new federal sub-regulatory guidance addressing PrEP services released on July 19, 2021. Contact NASTAD’s PrEP team at PrEP@NASTAD.org with questions or to request TA on PrEP financing and coverage.

• HIV Prevention Certified Provider Program HealthHIV has added a new module on PrEP Adherence to its HIV PCP program and is offering free, continuing education credits for its completion. The HIV Prevention Certified Provider Program is an online, self-paced CME curriculum composed of six modules in HIV prevention detailing the pertinent clinical and practice information that clinicians need to effectively employ HIV prevention interventions. Upon successful completion of this program, participants earn a certificate recognizing their designation as an HIV Prevention Certified Provider (HIV PCP) and receive listing in national online directory of HIV PCPs. The curriculum is updated annually and more frequently as needed, based on approval of new biomedical interventions and release of evidence-based practices.

• Persons at high risk of HIV acquisition* The US Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) recommends that clinicians offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with effective antiretroviral therapy to persons who are at high risk of HIV acquisition.

• PrEP Locator – www.preplocator.org*

• Best Practices: Interventions for PrEP* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention Research Synthesis (PRS) Project) identifies evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and evidence-informed interventions (EIs) for the Compendium of Evidence-Based Interventions and Best Practices for HIV Prevention. The Compendium helps HIV prevention planners and providers in the United States (US) select interventions most appropriate for their communities. The Compendium contains chapters on risk reduction; medication adherence; linkage to, retention in, and re-engagement in HIV care; and structural interventions. (February 2021)

• HealthHIV becomes the new home for PleasePrEPMe.org, the original comprehensive PrEP online resource*  As of Friday, January 15, 2021, HealthHIV will be the new home of PleasePrEPMe.org, an online platform that expands access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Initially launched in 2015 as a searchable and location-responsive provider directory for the State of California, PleasePrEPMe.org has expanded to provide HIV prevention resources in English and Spanish for consumers and providers in all 50 states. The platform features an online PrEP navigation training program with multiple modules/courses and downloadable resources which offer comprehensive insights and highlight best practices for PrEP consumers, navigators, and prescribers. (January 2021)

• HHS Seeks Vendor(s) to Distribute PrEP Medications as Part of Ready, Set, PrEP* (HIV.gov) The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) requires a vendor(s) to distribute pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications as part of a donation agreement between HHS and Gilead to provide PrEP medication at no cost for up to 200,000 individuals a year who are at risk for HIV and who are uninsured.

• Ready, Set, PrEP Expands Access to Medication to Prevent HIV *  HRSA News December 3 – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today launched Ready, Set, PrEP, a national program that makes medications for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), taken daily to prevent HIV, available at no cost to people without prescription drug insurance coverage.

• FDA Approves Second Drug to Prevent HIV Infection as Part of Ongoing Efforts to End the HIV Epidemic (October 2019)*

• Sexual Assault: PEP is an Urgent Health Need (October 2018)*

• CDC Educational Resources on PrEP and PEP*

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