![Prescribing to Prevent HIV]()
The number of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections has declined over the past decade in the United States, yet 40,000 new cases are still reported each year. A novel HIV prevention strategy—pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)— can help to further the decline in new HIV infections, but health care providers vastly underuse it. PrEP involves HIV-negative individuals taking antiretroviral medications and attending routine visits with a healthcare provider. In a study published online on October 20 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Oni Blackstock, M.D., M.H.S., describes her research showing that the vast majority of primary care physicians are aware of PrEP. However, only a minority of them reported ever referring a patient for PrEP or prescribing it; and those physicians believing that PrEP increases risk behaviors were less likely to adopt it. Dr. Blackstock is assistant professor of medicine.
Posted on: Monday, December 12, 2016