Tuesday, June 9, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl will introduce a motion that calls for “a robust, comprehensive program to deliver Pre‑Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) throughout the County,”reports Frontiersmedia.com.
The motion states, “For over three decades, Los Angeles County has experienced the second largest HIV epidemic in the United States. At its peak, there were more than 6,000 new HIV infections per year. Today, nearly 60,000 people are living with HIV in the County and approximately 1,850 LAC residents become infected with HIV each year, including large numbers of gay men, African Americans, Latinos and transgender persons. While we have made great progress in reducing new HIV infections, HIV continues to impact a great many of our families and friends.”
To combat those numbers, the County Department of Public Health’s Division of HIV and STD Programs, the County Commission on HIV and the County HIV Prevention Planning Committee came up with a five year “Comprehensive HIV Plan,” in line with the White House’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
The CDC endorsed PrEP as an HIV prevention strategy and issued clinical guidelines last year.
