The Problem
HIV infection remains a serious public health concern, especially amongst blacks, young people and men who have sex with men (MSM) whereby incidence rates continue to rise. North Carolina has one of the highest diagnosis rates of all states and Durham County ranks third highest in HIV incidence of all 100 NC counties. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, has been shown to be more than 90% efficacious in preventing HIV transmission. PrEP entails giving Truvada once daily to persons at high-risk. Unfortunately, there is a lack of awareness about PrEP, and for that reason, uptake has been slow.
Our Solution
We proposed a novel method of combining a dedicated PrEP clinic at Duke Medical Center with education promotion and community outreach to truly mitigate HIV transmission in our community.
Impact
Through this project, the Duke PrEP Clinic was officially established in January 2016. The clinic takes an integrated approach to HIV prevention, with two social workers and two pharmacy support staff to assist with risk behavior counseling and enrollment in patient assistance programs, respectively. We have evaluated 106 patients for PrEP services (approximately 42.3% black, 43.5% white, 77% MSM). A referral system was created in Maestro Care for the PrEP Clinic (Ambulatory Referral to HIV Prevention [PrEP] [HIV]). Additionally, Duke PrEP Clinic fliers have been widely distributed. The Duke PrEP Clinic was listed on national websites including the PrEP Locator Page (preplocator.org) and North Carolina AIDS Training and Education Center. Additionally, advertising campaigns have included promotion of the clinic on social networking sites and apps as well as on the Durham transportation system buses.
