By: Stephen Erskine

Stephen Erskine — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 05:08:21 +0000

This research sounds a bit strange to me. I don’t think there’s any stigma for PrEP users. Far from it. I preference people who say they are taking PrEP. I don’t trust them to be doing it right, but it certainly reduces my risk level when I know I am doing it right. But there is confusion and misinformation in the community about what successful PrEP use means. Partly driven by mixed messages from medicos and HIV organisation lobbyists. I take one pill a day every day and have for about 5 years now. But some people out there think you can take an occasional pill before (or even after) sex and that still counts as PrEP. There seems to be constant pressure from some professional circles to signal easier or less intrusive pill routines in order to make casual users feel better about themselves. But I fear it’ll end up like ACON’s ‘Talk, Test, Test, Trust’ campaign that watered down the messaging around condom use, led to a very rapid decline in safe sex practices in venues (I know – I was there!) and increasing rates of HIV infection. Part of the answer should be a change to the PrEP prescribing rules to allow testing at six month intervals instead of three. That would make taking a pill a day easier, if you could get a decent supply without constantly having to go back to the sexual health clinic.

Comments on: We Need to Quash Prep-Related Stigma

By: Stephen Erskine