By Levi Newnham, Victoria Pride Contributing Writer

What is PrEP? What does it do? How much does it cost?

HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (HIV-PrEP) is a treatment that helps prevent HIV negative individuals from becoming HIV positive. Most commonly, it’s a pill taken orally once a day.

Through the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) Drug Treatment Program, HIV-PrEP medication is provided for free to BC residents deemed of sufficient risk for HIV infection.

What does PrEP not do?

When taken properly, HIV-PrEP is highly effective against HIV infection. However, it does not provide protection against other sexually transmitted infections like syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HPV and hepatitis, all of which have been shown to be on the rise in the queer community. HIV-PrEP should, therefore, always be used in conjunction with the other safe-sex practices in your toolkit.

I am interested in starting PrEP, how do I do so?

The first step in getting on to the HIV-PrEP program is to talk to a healthcare provider. Not all healthcare providers are familiar with the program and not all clinics are set up to handle the unique administrative burden that this program requires.

If your provider is unfamiliar with the program, you will need to be patient and collaborative in the early months of navigating how the program works. Start by directing your provider to the BC-CfE website which provides clinical guidelines and directions on how the program operates. Once your provider is familiar with the program, you will need to have an appointment to determine if HIV-PrEP is a suitable option for you. If you are a man who has sex with men (MSM), this will include filling out a risk assessment questionnaire called a HIRI.

How do I navigate the PrEP program?

If you and your provider decide to proceed with HIV-PrEP, you will be required to do some blood work and a STI screen. Once all of those results are back (3-8 days) contact your provider and ask them to submit the HIV-PrEP program enrollment form if they have not done so already.

Once you are enrolled, the HIV-PrEP medication will be mailed from the St. Paul’s Pharmacy in Vancouver to your provider’s office for you to pick up. This will initially be a 30-day supply with all subsequent refills being 90 days worth. Each time you require refills you will need to have more blood work done before your provider is able to send in the refill request. Due to the processing time it is recommended that you start this process when you have 10-15 days of medication left to avoid missing any doses.

If your provider or clinic is new to this program, it is also recommended that you follow up with them each step of the way, as well as with St. Paul’s Pharmacy, to ensure everything is proceeding properly in this unique multi-step process. If you find you are almost out of medication but have not yet heard back about your refill, contact your provider and/or St. Paul’s to determine if your order can be expedited.

Note: If you wish to pause, stop, or restart taking your HIV-PrEP medication, it is important to first discuss with a healthcare provider beforehand so they can guide you through the associated safety protocols.

For more information, check out Island Sexual Health

Sign up to receive the VPS monthly newsletter by email!