PrEP Users' Union Launches Storybank to Uplift Voices of PrEP Users

Building on the #PrEPSaves campaign, PrEP4All's PrEP Users' Union has launched a storybank to highlight the diverse voices of current and former PrEP users. With widespread threats to funding for HIV prevention programs and research, it is more important than ever that PrEP users' experiences are uplifted in HIV prevention policy discussions. We are incredibly grateful to Johns Hopkins University for helping support this project.

PrEP4All has long advocated for a National PrEP Program to address coverage barriers for uninsured and underinsured individuals, while also increasing demand creation activities and provider expansion. Even as advocates seek to defend existing PrEP and HIV infrastructure, the need for a better approach to PrEP equity- a National PrEP Program- remains the same. "One of the key cornerstones of ending the HIV epidemic around the country is increasing PrEP access," states Justin Smith of PrEP In Black America and Director of Campaign to End AIDS at Positive Impact Health Centers.

As advocates prepare for the FDA approval of lenacapavir- a once every 6 month injectable PrEP option- the urgency for greater simplicity in PrEP access has never been greater. "Having a National PrEP Program where folks can have a one-stop shop to get PrEP and learn more about it will be helpful to myself and my community," states Maxx Boykin, Campaign Manager for the Save HIV Funding Campaign.

In the coming weeks dozens of stories will be added, not only for National PrEP Program advocacy, but also to push back on threats to HIV prevention programs and research, funding cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, and other threats impacting PrEP access such as Kennedy v. Braidwood.

To view the storybank and join the PrEP Users' Union to share your own story, visit prep4all.org/prepsaves.