EE UU: when the PrEP is listed in the app dating gay

Joel, Alcatraz, california 26-year-old, charged with the paranoia of being infected of HIV from which he accepted that he was gay. “After every sexual contact inspected the condom,” she said. Rejecting any attempt of seduction of someone who had the retrovirus. “I was afraid, did not want to become one of them.” Investigated to give with the Truvada, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, for its acronym in English), which reduces the risk of infection in over 90%. The pill made him leave the condom on many occasions. Yes, have contracted other sexually transmitted diseases. However, nothing compares with the peace of being free of HIV. 80% of those affected by aids are gay, but the disease can affect both men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation.

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Spain delayed the introduction of the pill that prevents HIV, “we See promising signs of decline in HIV,”

In the united States, the marketing of the PrEP was approved in 2012. The drug of daily use has a cost of 1300 dollars per month without health insurance, to which we must add the lab tests and an appointment with the doctor every three months. The fence financial who have to overcome the interested parties - in most cases buffered by health plans - has not prevented that consumption grows at cruising speed. 2016 2017 the increase was from 30% to more than 172.500 consumers, according to Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer of Truvada. The figure is still small if one considers that only the LGBT community consists of more than eight million people. Since the establishment of the medication, not yet approved in Spain, there is a correlation between the rise in the use and and the fall in HIV diagnoses, as outlined in the International aids Conference last July.

last week the PrEP went on to be a drug of “A” category in the ranking of the Working Group of Preventive Services of the U.S. (USPSTF, for its acronym in English). The news was celebrated because the Health Care Law to Low-Priced requires that most private health plans cover the full cost of the preventive services recommended by the group. “The recommendations made by the USPTF is debierían comply with because they are not based on opinions, but rather on realities. The PrEP is the biggest breakthrough in HIV prevention since the epidemic began,” says dr. Carlos del Rio, co-director of the Clinical Trials Unit of HIV from Emory-CDC.

The main audience of the recommendations are men who have sex with men, couples where one of the two is infected by the rotavirus, people who inject drugs and share needles and sex workers. The River recognizes that consumers of the PrEP have been relaxed on the use of the condom, which has resulted in an increase of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDS). “It is difficult to calculate the increase because now we're also doing more tests. It is a combination of both things, but you have to see it Betkanyon with perspective: STIS can be cured and HIV is not,” said the doctor.

It's Thursday night in Washington, and Cristián Valenzuela, a chilean of 27 years, check out the profiles of Scruff, a dating application for gay. In an inspection fast can you make an estimate that three out of every four users to share in your personal information that they are consuming PrEP. Valenzuela, who began to take the drug three months ago to have “peace of mind” and recognizes that it has dropped its use of the condom. “A lot of people put in the application that you want to do it without a condom, something that before was totally stigmatized. Now with the tablet is much more common,” he says. As several, the introduction of the PrEP for the market has changed the perception of people living with HIV. Today is more open to having sex with a person infected by the retrovirus. “I started to see people with HIV as human beings and less like ghosts,” said Arum.

In a bar environment, Jhonny Hadlock, 34, teaches a listing of the 17 boys that have had sex since I left him with her boyfriend in June. Recognizes not be a frequent condom use, and from a month ago began to protect themselves with the drug “I Wanted to do it because I had episodes of complicated health and wanted to have the control. There are people who tell you that you do not have HIV, but you may be lying,” he said. His friend Kevin Holender, 26, supports the use of the pill, but not consumed, because, being active (he penetrates) considers that it is less prone to catching and your sex life is quiet [even though the risk persists].

When Alcatraz started in their consumption four years ago and put it in your profile, Grindr, the largest dating application for gay, many attacked him. “Often, people who were HIV-positive.” However, that stopped with the time and now he says that it is fully integrated into the gay culture. “In fact, if you do not take the PrEP, it is a little weird,” he concludes.

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The u.s. Government argued that people with high risks of contracting the retrovirus may be eligible for a current program in some areas that gives the PrEP, free of charge. “The problem is that those who really are at risk of contracting HIV do not get tested,” explains Deborah Birx, ambassador and special coordinator of the US to the aids. About 40,000 people were diagnosed with HIV in the united STATES last year, thus adding to the little more than a million people suffering from the disease.

The AIDS Foundation of San Francisco is one of the health centers that offers free the pill to the people of scarce resources. Felipe Flores, spokesman for the foundation, argues that despite of the financial efforts of various organizations, there are areas where there are no alternative options for those who do not have insurance. They subsidize the generic that is sold in Thailand for $ 50. “In San Francisco did not see much, but in other cities, where there is free health clinics, yes,” he explains. The benefit for the AIDS Foundation ranging from 15 to 81 years, mainly concentrated between 25 and 35 years old.

minors under The age of 25 years are not as devoted to the consumption of the PrEP. Flowers explains that is due to three causes: many rely on their parents ' health insurance, that you have not been told of their sexual orientation; the stigma of being sexually active; and the poor sex education in the united States that affects that many did not know of the existence of the drug.