This story was originally published by Healthbeat. Sign up for their public health newsletters at healthbeat.org/newsletters.
Latonia Wilkins knows she needs to be on PrEP due to her non-monogamous lifestyle. But the 52-year-old Atlanta mother has faced repeated challenges getting the lifesaving drug that can prevent new HIV infections.
Years ago, Wilkins was dating a man newly diagnosed with HIV and went to get tested, she said, but was not offered PrEP.
Since then, Wilkins said, doctors either have told her she doesn’t need the drug or were reluctant to prescribe it. Her insurance through work would not cover a long-acting injectable form that tends to have better results than the original pill form. Getting to appointments across Atlanta for the pills was a challenge. She is now enrolled in a drug trial for a promising PrEP injection but worries about future access and cost.
Preexposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP, reduces the risk of new HIV infections through sex by 99% and among injectable drug users by at least 74%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.