NEW ORLEANS – The adoption and use of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) continues to lag behind studies showing its effectiveness in the high-risk population of men who have sex with men, says a clinician who works with these patients.
John Krotchko, MD, a family practitioner at Denver Health and Hospital Authority, has studied the impact of a community outreach program – targeting HIV-negative men who have sex with men – that educates about HIV PrEP and offers HIV testing. He and his colleagues have examined the effectiveness of this approach, how comfortable participants are discussing their behaviors, and have tried to determine whether availability of HIV PrEP increases high-risk behaviors.
Dr. Krotchko and his colleagues also studied overall trends in awareness about PrEP over time, as well as the acceptability of participants to take a once-daily emtricitabine/tenofovir pill. He explained in a video interview why he believes it’s important to manage these patients in a primary care setting. The interview took place at the combined annual meetings of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
Dr. Krotchko had no relevant financial disclosures.