Let's talk about PrEP
posted by Pat McCusker
on 07th January 2016
PrEP is an highly effective and safe medication that has been proven to prevent HIV transmission if you take it daily. As yet there's no news about when PrEP will be available on the NHS. However, many people are choosing to buy PrEP online.
Yorkshire MESMAC invites you to come and talk about Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) on February 4th between 6-8pm upstairs at Blayds Bar, Leeds.
This evening will be a chance for you to learn more about what PrEP is, how it works, the evidence of it's effectiveness and safety and hear some experinces from people who are already taking it. It will also be a chance for you to ask any questions you might have about PrEP.
The evening will begin with a showing of a short film about the PROUD Study. This study demonstarted that PrEP prevented people from getting HIV if they took the mediaction daily.
We then have three guests speaker who talk a little about PrEP and answer any questions.
Dr Mags Portman who is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at Mortimer Market Centre in London. She completed her training in Sexual Health in Leeds and will always be primarily a Yorkshire Lass! Her interests are HIV Prevention including expanding HIV testing and more recently PrEP. She worked directly with participants on the PROUD trial and is still involved with the PROUD Trial Management Group. She is a vocal advocate for PrEP.
Will Nutland who is the co-founder of PrEPster.info - a website that aims to educate and agitate about PrEP access in the UK. Will has worked and volunteered in community health for over 20 years, including as Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust, and as a Public Health Strategist in East London. He is currently a researcher at LSHTM where he has recently completed research into the acceptability of PrEP amongst gay men. In September 2015 he took part in LSHTM's series of TEDX talks where he talked about PrEP and the emergence of the end of HIV.
And Greg who is a man in Leeds who is currently taking PrEP. He will talk about his experiences of using PrEP and the impact it has had on his life.
Pat from Yorkshire MESMAC will also there to help the discussion along. He works to prevent HIV in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Leeds.