When I, a heterosexual woman, visited a doctor's office in Ann Arbor, I heard nothing about screening for sexually transmitted infections or evaluating pre-exposure prophylaxis with HIV antiretrovirals. However, when I spoke with a gay male colleague, he surprisingly learned that he is always asked about screening for sexually transmitted infections during his clinic visits.
STI screening is an essential method for assessing HIV infection and transmission, but is underutilized in most clinical settings. The number of new HIV infections in the United States decreased from 2017 to 2021, but the number of heterosexual infections increased slightly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This may indicate that clinical evaluation and prevention protocols are inadequate.
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis is a promising biomedical prevention method that effectively protects people from HIV/AIDS. Even though PrEP is promoted by public health officials, some health professionals, including medical school students and physicians, do not realize that PrEP is a primary prevention method that protects people from HIV infection. This lack of knowledge creates barriers to healthcare access, including PrEP prescription, and further exacerbates stigma and social stigma as a result of underestimating risk among heterosexuals.
Interventions aimed at educating Michigan Health care professionals on PrEP-related knowledge could significantly improve the equitable distribution of PrEP and reduce HIV infection rates in Michigan. The intervention targets physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and medical students. Lines of communication between patients and healthcare providers are essential to initiating PrEP and assessing the appropriateness of prescribing. Recent studies have revealed demographic disparities in access to PrEP. The people most likely to be prescribed PrEP are white and never female, meaning they were not assigned female at birth and have not identified as female since then.
A US survey found that 83.4% of US medical, pharmacy, physician assistant, and nursing students were aware of PrEP, but only 56.5% of students reported that PrEP was taught in their academic program. was. For those educated about the drug, the academic emphasis on high-risk populations, such as ethnic minorities, may increase prescribing bias. For example, medical students determined that black patients were at higher risk for HIV compared to white patients. Comprehensive education about HIV and HIV PrEP among medical professionals at Michigan Health is essential as it is essential to strengthening Ann Arbor's public health and reducing HIV infections.
In 2019, 121 countries incorporated the World Health Organization's PrEP recommendations into their national guidelines with the goal of increasing PrEP users. According to the CDC, in the United States, “about 30% of people who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed PrEP in 2021, compared to only about 13% in 2017.” … apparently … In the United States, PrEP is effective in reducing the risk of sexually transmitted HIV by 99%, yet uptake remains low.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has launched a campaign to share information about HIV PrEP in an effort to increase the number of PrEP users in Michigan. Its users are primarily white men between the ages of 25 and 44. Although the population is growing, PrEP uptake in Black and Latinx communities remains much lower than in white communities due to social stigma and lack of awareness. Health professionals can reduce the threat of HIV by recognizing PrEP and treating individuals equally and without prejudice. Therefore, education of medical professionals and university medical students at Michigan Medicine represents an intervention that can achieve the goal of increasing PrEP-related knowledge.
To improve the use of PrEP for HIV/AIDS in both theoretical courses and clinical practice by integrating relevant knowledge into the education of medical students and healthcare professionals, with a special emphasis on dispelling harmful stereotypes. I can. University medical schools need to improve the quality of their courses and ensure that their teaching materials and curriculum are up-to-date. For example, medical school curricula could include themed lectures or special chapters to cover the latest advances in HIV prevention, such as the newly developed PrEP in recent years.
There is a need to establish a strong curriculum around HIV PrEP and teach its appropriate use, especially for infectious disease students. Students need to understand that sexual minorities are not the only ones at risk. In addition, hospitals, pharmacies, the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, and the Michigan state government will conduct regular training on HIV risks and HIV PrEP for existing physicians, nurses, and pharmacists to increase knowledge of preventive medicine. is needed. Drug education needs to extend beyond the pharmacology and his use of PrEP and emphasize its social aspects. By educating professionals to overcome barriers such as lack of awareness, prejudice, and racial bias, we can promote the equitable distribution of PrEP, increase access among at-risk populations, and improve the final can reduce the incidence of HIV.
HIV PrEP is one of the most effective means of HIV prevention available, and its population-based rollout will benefit Ann Arbor residents who are at high risk. Educating health professionals about her PrEP to address stigma will ultimately help address issues of lack of access and inequitable distribution.
Yizhou Ma is a second-year Master of Public Health student with a minor in Global Health in the School of Health Policy and Management at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Yuchen Zhang is a Master of Public Health candidate in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Contact her at yizhouma@umich.edu. yuchez@umich.edu.