AAHIVM and Vindico Medical Education Launch Course to Address HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Usage and Equitable Preventive Care

AAHIVM and Vindico Medical Education Launch Course to Address HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Usage and Equitable Preventive Care

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Academy of HIV Medicine, in partnership with Vindico Medical Education, have launched a new online course for providers that addresses the urgency of increasing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and the need for equitable preventive care. This new course is in keeping with the Academy’s mission to provide clinically up-to-date sexual health and HIV education for all providers to ensure patients are able to access quality HIV and sexual health preventive care.

Those who participate in “HIV PrEP: Deploying Strategies for Equitable Preventive Care” will gain an overview of updated clinical guidelines for PrEP, which recommend that all sexually active adults and adolescents are prescribed PrEP when indicated or when they ask for it. Despite these guidelines, barriers – such as lack of knowledge among clinicians, patient discomfort in discussing sexual history, and logistical concerns like cost and insurance coverage – hinder the broader adoption of PrEP. The course will also present information about health disparities that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities, individuals in the South and Southeast United States, and young men who have sex with men. It will also address ways providers can recognize and reduce these disparities. Finally, the course will cover how providers can enhance patient awareness through shared decision-making and patient education initiatives.

“The use of PrEP is an essential part of HIV prevention and an integral facet of the ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S.,” says Bruce J. Packett II, executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. “The Academy is committed to ensuring all providers have the knowledge they need to prescribe PrEP and the ‘HIV PrEP: Deploying Strategies for Equitable Preventive Care’ course is an important adjunct to that education.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV from sex by approximately 99 percent and from injection drug use by about 74 percent.1 Unfortunately, though, not everyone who is eligible for PrEP is prescribed this effective HIV prevention medication. As of 2023, CDC statistics indicate that only about 37 percent of people eligible for PrEP have prescriptions for it.2 Providers can help to increase these coverage gaps through a better understanding of PrEP options and eligibility criteria, as well as increased patient education and shared decision-making with patients.

The “HIV PrEP: Deploying Strategies for Equitable Preventive Care” course includes faculty well versed in HIV prevention and care for all ages: Charlotte-Paige Rolle, MD, MPH, is the Director of Research Operations at Orlando Immunology Center; Renata Arrington-Sanders, MD, MPH, ScM, is the Chief of Adolescent Medicine in the Craig-Dalsimer Division of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Meredith E. Clement, MD, is an Associate Professor at
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

Participants of the course can earn up to 1.50 AAPA/CME/CPE credits. To access the course, please visit https://www.healio.com/cme/primary-care/20240827/hiv-prep-deploying-strategies-for-equitable-preventive-care/overview.

 

References
1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinical Guidance for PrEP. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Updated August 20, 2024. Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/hivnexus/hcp/prep/index.html

2. National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (U.S.). Division of HIV Prevention. Core Indicators for Monitoring the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative (Preliminary Data): National HIV Surveillance System Data Reported through June 2023; and Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Data Reported through March 2023. Published October 2023. Accessed January 14, 2025. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/136159