Florida to Roll Out Free PrEP in 2018

[Jim Allen]

Full story: https://www.poz.com/article/florida-roll-free-prep-2018

The Florida Department of Health will offer free HIV prevention drug Truvada across the state by the end of 2018, reports Orlando Weekly.

Truvada as PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, has been available at 16 county health departments for several months, but by the end of this year, all 67 county departments will offer the daily pill to people at risk for HIV. The rollout is the result of a mandate from Florida Department of Health Surgeon General and Secretary Celeste Philip.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2016, Florida had the third highest rate of HIV diagnoses, with 28 out of 100,000 Floridians diagnosed with the virus. This followed Georgia (31. and Washington, DC, (55.6).