For years, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast has offered preventative HIV treatment to patients who were sexually active or had a high-risk of exposure to the virus by other means. Now, it will also offer similar medical treatment to someone already exposed to the virus.

Thanks to improved scheduling and lab work times, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for primary and trans care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, the center has been able to offer the additional option. One urgency is that after possible exposure, patients need to be seen within 72 hours for the treatment to be effective.

Besides patients who have already been exposed to HIV, the new coverage includes clients who don’t want to take the daily preventative pill but may want to plan ahead of a known risk.

PrEP, the only option until this June, is used for long-term prevention by those who are frequently sexually active or have high risk of exposure to the virus. The new medication – nPEP – is instead designed for short-term usage to protect against infection up to three days after coming into contact with HIV.

The other alternative is "event-driven or on-demand PrEP" or taking PrEP before and after a potential exposure, but not every day. This is for patients who are less frequently sexually active or have lower chances of contracting the infection in other instances, Kumar said.

“When someone does experience an event where they are at high risk of potentially acquiring HIV, the urgency of that is extremely heavy,” Kumar said. “These are two important tools in the toolkit that we have for reducing a person’s chance of acquiring HIV and reducing HIV and AIDS in the country.”

HIV is transmitted through any direct exchange of bodily fluids, not just sexual activity. This can include sharing syringes or coming into contact with a non-disinfected used needle. Kumar said it is best for patients who want to receive this care to talk to their health care provider first to determine which might be the most effective treatment for them.

Kumar said prior to the expansion, he had patients come in concerned after an exposure to someone with HIV or an unknown HIV status, and he could not help.

He would refer people out to where they could receive help, but this was difficult too as very few clinics or health centers in the Greater Houston area provide this care.

Kumar said these facilities likely face similar issues especially with scheduling as the patients who need nPEP, need to be seen and given the medication within 72 hours.

There is also the stigma that surrounds this care. Planned Parenthood has always provided reproductive health care and gender-affirming health care, so Kumar said this is not a concern of their staff as HIV post-exposure care aligns with the work they already do.

“We knew it was very important for our patients to be able to access this care,” Kumar said. “When we can completely eliminate the chance for somebody to acquire HIV virus potentially, then we can transition them onto a medication that can prevent infection from happening in the future. It’s critical to somebody who does have one of those exposures to be able to access these options.”

HIV is known to disproportionately affect gay and bisexual men — particularly those of color — with 8,064 diagnoses of Black and 6,359 diagnoses of Hispanic and Latino men reported, out of the total number of new diagnoses detected in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kumar said their clinics wanted to cater to their patients of these populations and provide these medications additionally at an affordable cost to all. Through funding programs, they are able to subsidize the costs of this care – sometimes prescribing it at no charge to their uninsured or underinsured patients.

"These medications are extremely effective and the only way to prevent it is if you're actually taking them," he said. "So, it's important to have that conversation and be real about your risk and for folks to take up efforts to reduce that risk."

Both post-exposure treatments will now be permanently provided to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast patients at any of the organization’s six local clinics and their two facilities in Louisiana.