PrEP

PrEP

is a pill with anti-retroviral drugs that can prevent HIV infection. The pill is meant for people who do not have HIV, but who are at increased risk of becoming infected.

The number of new HIV infections in recent years remains stable. The Netherlands has annually about 1,100 new HIV patients, including 370 in Amsterdam. In 2013, 71% of all new HIV infections was diagnosed in gay men. New HIV infections occur despite all the education about safe sex, the availability of cheap condoms and care organized by STI clinics for high-risk groups, such as free testing for STIs and HIV. To further reduce the number of new HIV infections, new methods such as PrEP are needed. PrEP is an addition to existing prevention strategies like condoms.

Dutch National programme 2019

The five-year program starts September 2019 in which the GGDs in the Netherlands offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV and to offer care related to the use of PrEP.

The programme is intended for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people who are at risk for HIV. You are at risk for HIV if you have (had) anal sex without a condom with someone whose HIV status is not certain whether or not he is being treated for HIV.