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As someone who is in this high-risk community: good news. (Well, except for that price tag.) People, to a first approximation, are just terrible at pill compl

As someone who is in this high-risk community: good news. (Well, except for that price tag.) People, to a first approximation, are just terrible at pill compliance. Doesn’t matter the demographics, people just aren’t perfect at taking a pill, every day, at the same time, forever and ever. Having that injection where you can set it and forget it? Nice advance. Not game-changing, but still a nice move forward. And I think it’ll be a bigger move forward for people who are at high risk of HIV, but also have not great access to medical care where they live. If you…oh boy, here I go, potentially getting into trouble. Non-white and/or non-affluent communities tend to come down much harder on homosexuality. It is much more discreet to get a periodic shot than heading to Walgreen’s and bringing home a bottle full of blue pills. It’s safer. It’s a bit more private.

tyingq 6y ago
It's a shame that PrEP is still so expensive.
- perardi 6y ago
  It’s frustrating that it’s so expensive for the most at-risk communities in the US. Because you can totally work the systems to get it affordably. Besides insurance, there are clinics, there are coupons, there are programs…but you have to have the information literacy and the time to figure out how to jump through all those hoops. Me, I work remotely, I have insurance, I live on the north side of Chicago, I can get my Truvada easily. You live on the west side of Chicago with no Howard Brown nearby, and you work a service sector job where your hours are algorithmically doled out to you? Far, far harder.
  - monopoledance 6y ago
    I think, same as with vaccinations, this clearly highlights how all of society really benefits from universal health care. In fact, why isn't preventable infectious disease talked more about in that debate? Pretty obvious, no?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - angry_octet 6y ago
    This implies that becoming HIV+ is increasingly a disease of the working poor (in countries like America without public health care). Or do public health care clinics have sufficient vouchers? In which case why wouldn’t people just resell their Truvada?
- monopoledance 6y ago
  After long, long pressure from activists, PrEP is now covered by insurance in Europe (at least Germany). Same as the accompanying monthly(?) bloodwork for potential side effects (liver damage?), of course.
- SargeZT 6y ago
  It is expensive, but it is accessible. Truvada for PrEP has a program both for insured patients that covers co-pays up to $7,200 per year (I pay zero dollars a year because of this), and a medication assistance program for uninsured patients where after signing up and meeting eligibility requirements (which are basically 'are you at risk of getting HIV' and 'are you not wealthy to the point where you should definitely be able to afford insurance') you receive the medication at zero cost. This is true of many medications, but Truvada is especially famous for it. As a gay man I have a lot of friends on it, and because of the aforementioned program, only two of the thirty+ pay any co-pay at all, and it's something like 20 bucks for them.
  - tyingq 6y ago
    That's better than I had imagined it was, though I wonder about those on really lousy insurance, or no insurance. Or perhaps those on their parent's insurance that aren't "out" yet, etc.
  - perardi 6y ago
    Just confirming this. I don’t know anyone paying full price for Truvada. It’s either free, or whatever your insurance copay for drugs happens to be. (It’s annoying I have to go to a specific pharmacy with my drug plan, but whatever.)
bagacrap 6y ago
I'm not one to lead the cancel brigade but you could have just said "some communities". There are plenty of white communities that frown on homosexuality so I don't know what is gained by citing demographics. Since there's no purpose in calling out race, but you did anyway, I can see how some might see this as an unprovoked attack.
- kepler1 6y ago
  So you don't want others to talk about race, but you're happy to bring it up and make it an issue because you take offense at any mention of it you deem too sensitivity-provoking. What do you want exactly? Sounds like you are very nearly someone who leads a cancel brigade.

tyingq 6y ago

It's a shame that PrEP is still so expensive.

perardi 6y ago
It’s frustrating that it’s so expensive for the most at-risk communities in the US. Because you can totally work the systems to get it affordably. Besides insurance, there are clinics, there are coupons, there are programs…but you have to have the information literacy and the time to figure out how to jump through all those hoops. Me, I work remotely, I have insurance, I live on the north side of Chicago, I can get my Truvada easily. You live on the west side of Chicago with no Howard Brown nearby, and you work a service sector job where your hours are algorithmically doled out to you? Far, far harder.
- monopoledance 6y ago
  I think, same as with vaccinations, this clearly highlights how all of society really benefits from universal health care. In fact, why isn't preventable infectious disease talked more about in that debate? Pretty obvious, no?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- angry_octet 6y ago
  This implies that becoming HIV+ is increasingly a disease of the working poor (in countries like America without public health care). Or do public health care clinics have sufficient vouchers? In which case why wouldn’t people just resell their Truvada?
monopoledance 6y ago
After long, long pressure from activists, PrEP is now covered by insurance in Europe (at least Germany). Same as the accompanying monthly(?) bloodwork for potential side effects (liver damage?), of course.
SargeZT 6y ago
It is expensive, but it is accessible. Truvada for PrEP has a program both for insured patients that covers co-pays up to $7,200 per year (I pay zero dollars a year because of this), and a medication assistance program for uninsured patients where after signing up and meeting eligibility requirements (which are basically 'are you at risk of getting HIV' and 'are you not wealthy to the point where you should definitely be able to afford insurance') you receive the medication at zero cost. This is true of many medications, but Truvada is especially famous for it. As a gay man I have a lot of friends on it, and because of the aforementioned program, only two of the thirty+ pay any co-pay at all, and it's something like 20 bucks for them.
- tyingq 6y ago
  That's better than I had imagined it was, though I wonder about those on really lousy insurance, or no insurance. Or perhaps those on their parent's insurance that aren't "out" yet, etc.
- perardi 6y ago
  Just confirming this. I don’t know anyone paying full price for Truvada. It’s either free, or whatever your insurance copay for drugs happens to be. (It’s annoying I have to go to a specific pharmacy with my drug plan, but whatever.)

bagacrap 6y ago

I'm not one to lead the cancel brigade but you could have just said "some communities". There are plenty of white communities that frown on homosexuality so I don't know what is gained by citing demographics. Since there's no purpose in calling out race, but you did anyway, I can see how some might see this as an unprovoked attack.

kepler1 6y ago
So you don't want others to talk about race, but you're happy to bring it up and make it an issue because you take offense at any mention of it you deem too sensitivity-provoking. What do you want exactly? Sounds like you are very nearly someone who leads a cancel brigade.