It has been more than 40 years since HIV was first detected in the United States. While new HIV diagnoses have declined significantly from their peak in the late 1980s, almost 38,000 Americans — more than 600 of them Chicagoans — are newly diagnosed each year. In Washington, D.C. and Springfield, two recent efforts could signal a pivotal moment in our work to end the HIV epidemic as we know it.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a medicine taken to prevent HIV infection. According to the CDC, PrEP is 99% effective against sexually-transmitted HIV infections.
