In this opinion piece, Sean Bland, JD, an associate at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, discusses President Obama’s proposed pilot program to increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention.
Newswise — WASHINGTON (Feb. 9, 2016) -- In his final State of the Union Address, President Obama told Congress, “Right now, we are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS, and we have the capacity to accomplish the same thing with malaria — something I’ll be pushing this Congress to fund this year.” HIV experts applauded the President’s elevation of HIV/AIDS in the month preceding his annual budget request but had to wait to learn what exactly the President would propose to Congress. On February 9, 2016, President Obama released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 budget, proposing a record $4.1 trillion spending plan, including new funding for HIV prevention.
The FY 2017 budget provides $20 million for a new innovative pilot program to increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and allows health departments to use up to 30 percent of these available funds to pay for PrEP medication as the payer of last resort. I have previously written about the need for federal programs to provide financial assistance for PrEP. This pilot program is a significant step toward improving PrEP access in the United States.
To read the complete opinion piece, please visit the O'Neill Institute website.
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