AMA urges more physician education on use of once-a-day HIV prevention

The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted new policies today recognizing the need for improved education of physicians on the effective use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV acquisition in high-risk individuals. Tenofovir/emtricitabine (also known as PrEP) is a once-a-day prevention option for HIV-negative men and women that reduces the risk of sexual HIV acquisition. Although the FDA approved PrEP in July 2012, a 2015 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 34 percent of primary care doctors and nurses had never heard of PrEP.

"With more than 1.2 million people in the United States living with substantial risk of HIV infection but fewer than five percent of them taking PrEP, there is significant ground to gain in stemming the incidence of HIV," said AMA Board Member Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D. "Educating physicians about the effective use of PrEP and encouraging insurers to cover the costs associated with its administration will make the transmission of HIV rarer and our nation healthier."