15 Dec The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Issues Draft Recommendations on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis
Academy Statement: The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued an updated draft recommendation on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). In a highly consequential action for the HIV community, the USPSTF is recommending with an “A” rating that clinicians offer PrEP “with effective antiretroviral therapy to persons who are at high risk of HIV acquisition,” that in this draft newly extends to long-acting PrEP in addition to oral PrEP. The A rating means that plans and issuers must cover PrEP without cost sharing.
“The Academy has been advocating for this outcome, and we are quite pleased with the draft recommendations. The use of PrEP is critical to ending the HIV epidemic and for ensuring that the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative can meet its goals,” says Bruce J. Packett, the Executive Director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. “And on a client services level, ensuring that the cost of all modalities of PrEP is covered will positively impact people at risk for HIV who are lower income or have socioeconomic barriers to care.”
PrEP is both an incredibly effective and significantly underutilized prevention intervention in the United States. As well, the use of PrEP varies widely by demographics, due to a number of identifiable barriers, with uptake in the Black and Latinx communities disproportionately much lower. Ensuring providers are up-to-date on the latest clinical recommendations for PrEP is particularly important given these persistent gaps in usage. The USPSTF’s rating is an opportunity to increase access to this effective HIV prevention tool, which can include either daily pill-based regimens or long-acting injectables that can be administered monthly or every other month.
The USPSTF is an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. The Task Force makes evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services.
The Task Force’s draft recommendation statement and draft evidence review have been posted for public comment on the Task Force website at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org. Comments can be submitted from December 13, 2022, through January 17, 2023, at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/tfcomment.htm.