First Major Medical Breakthrough in HIV Prevention in 30 Years
Press Release
May 11, 2015
Contact
Jose Rodriguez, Columbus Public Health
604-5025, [email protected]
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First Major Medical
Breakthrough in HIV Prevention in 30 Years
Public Health
Strongly Recommends PrEP as a Tool for HIV Prevention
WHAT: Public health officials,
healthcare providers and community AIDS organizations are holding a press conference
to inform the public of PrEP, the first major medical breakthrough in HIV prevention
in 30 years.
- Dr. Teresa Long, health commissioner
at Columbus Public Health; Priscilla
Tyson, member of Columbus City Council; Shannon Hardin, member of Columbus City Council; Dr. Mike Para, infectious
disease specialist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and AIDS
Resource Center Ohio; Dr. Mysheika
Williams Roberts, medical director and assistant health commissioner; Nancie Bechtel, assistant health
commissioner and chief nursing officer at Columbus Public Health; Tiffany S. Krauss, administrator,
Clinical Health Division, Columbus Public Health; Dr. Brian Beesley, primary care physician, Mount Carmel
Medical Group – Victorian Village; Dr.
Chad Braun, program director, family residency, Mount Carmel Health
System; Peggy Anderson, chief
operating officer at AIDS Resource Center Ohio; Dr. Carlos Malvestutto, infectious disease specialist at
FACES, Nationwide Children’s; Dr.
Jose Bazan, infectious disease specialist, medical director of the
Columbus Public Health Sexual Health Clinic and assistant professor at The Ohio
State University; Karla Rothan,
executive director of Stonewall Columbus; and, Joshua Culbertson, PrEP patient.
WHEN: 11 a.m. today, May 11, 2015
WHERE: Columbus
Public Health – Board Room (2nd Floor)
240 Parsons Ave., Columbus
DETAILS: PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a new once-a-day pill that
reduces the risk of becoming infected with HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS. When taken as directed, PrEP is 92
percent effective at preventing HIV infection.
PrEP is available
by prescription from a PrEP provider or clinic.
Insurance providers, including Medicaid,
cover the cost of PrEP – and assistance is available for those who need it to
help eliminate barriers to care.
- Columbus Public Health is working to
protect health and improve lives by reducing HIV infections in our
community. Despite medical advancements
in treatment over the last 30 years, more than 2,200 Franklin County residents
have died from HIV/AIDS and there are nearly 4,200 residents living with HIV in
Franklin County.
Since
2003 in Franklin County, HIV diagnoses have increased by 7% in our community.
For more information on PrEP please visit us at www.publichealth.columbs.gov/prep.
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