Photo by David Cruz
By David Cruz
Although a newly-evolved method used in preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS exists for the public, its success and effectiveness has largely gone unnoticed throughout the city.
Awareness and usage of pre-exposure prophylaxis and post exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP), retroviral drug treatments where one prevents the spread of HIV while the other contains it, remains low among men who have sex with men, according to a survey by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. A survey of 500 men who have sex with men found 59 percent of them did not know about PrEP while half the men questions were clueless about PEP.
It’s why the health agency launched PrEP & PEP: New Ways to Prevent HIV, a campaign blitz that highlights the treatment option to 600 primary care doctors.
But a major part of the campaign involves softening the discussion on HIV and AIDS, a conversation often marred with stigma, according to Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Assistant Commissioner for DOH. This happens mainly among men who have sex with men and the LGBT community, according to Dr. Daskalakis.
“They’re not comfortable talking about their lives,” said Dr. Daskalakis, who offered details on the campaign at a news conference at Montefiore Medical Center’s AIDS Center. “What we need to do is teach people to talk about risk cause when it’s identified you can teach people how to modify their behavior, how to use condoms and other barrier protections. And if that’s not enough we can teach them to use PrEP and PEP without judging their behavior.”
Montefiore’s AIDS center, found at Reservoir Oval, treats roughly 2000 HIV/AIDS yearly and conducts 10,000 HIV screenings yearly. Dr. Barry S. Zingman, the center’s medical director and author of more patient-friendly guidelines, said the hospital is backing the practice.
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., in attendance at the news conference, also threw his support behind DOH’s campaign. His office routinely encourages community based organizations to screen for HIV. He’s also introduced Bronx Realness After Dark, an initiative where health workers stationed outside active nightclubs in areas with high HIV/AIDS rates, screen for the virus.
The Bronx, number one borough to many deadly diseases, places third in the number of HIV/AIDS patients throughout the city, behind Brooklyn and Manhattan, which rank first and second.
The strategy involves turning a doctor’s office into a more HIV-sensitive environment, hoping this opens up a dialogue on the benefits of PrEP and PEP for patients.
Helping to spread the message are so-called detailers, who will fan across 600 primary care and student health services to encourage physicians to consider adding PrEP and PEP treatments to their arsenal of medications that also include the use of condoms. A kit filled with pamphlets and reports on the drugs is available to participating doctors, teaching them how intervention medication can be implemented.
A health alert on updated guidelines to the PrEP and PEP approach was also transmitted to primary care doctors not expecting a visit from a detailer.
PrEP works as a pill against HIV. Non-infected patients are prescribed the pill, functioning as temporary vaccine against HIV. PEP is intended for HIV-infected patients, who wish to contain the disease so it doesn’t spread to their partner. The target audience for both is men having sex with men, according to Dr. Daskalakis.
But prevention of HIV usually begins with a conversation, and treatment options, a goal Dr. Daskalakis hopes the campaign achieves.
“Educated clinicians lead to educated patients,” said Dr. Daskalakis.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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