Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention

HIV remains a major public health threat in the United States and globally. As of December 2013, an estimated 1.2 million people aged 13 years and older were living with HIV in the United States, approximately 13% of whom were unaware that they were infected [1]. In recent years, new infections have been stable at about 50,000 per year. HIV significantly impacts minorities and people with low socioeconomic status, particularly in the Southeastern United States. The majority of new infections continue to occur in men who have sex with men (MSM), with African American and Latino MSM being 8 times and 6 times more likely to acquire HIV, respectively, compared to white MSM [1]. Injection drug users (IDUs) are also at high risk of contracting HIV, although new infections in this group have decreased in the past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 4 gay and bisexual males, 1 in 5 IDUs, and 1 in 200 heterosexual men and women are at substantial risk for acquiring HIV during their lifetime [2]. In addition, new infections are not equally distributed geographically. The South bears a high burden of established and new HIV infections. In 2014, approximately 44% of people living with HIV and 52% of newly infected individuals lived in the South, a region that accounted for 52% of deaths directly attributed to HIV and AIDS diagnoses in that year [1]. In addition, the South differs in where new infections are happening. In most…