Truvada Delivered -- PrEP App Launches in DC on World AIDS Day

Nurx, a telemedicine startup based in San Francisco, focuses on making Truvada for PrEP and birth control more accessible to everyone through their app. With the app, users can get a prescription from a doctor and have their medication delivered right to their door. The app is currently available in California, New York, and Washington state, and beginning Thursday, December 1, the app will be available in Washington, DC. Nurx will launch the app and service in Maryland and Virginia by January.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, better known as 'PrEP', is an HIV prevention method in which people who do not have HIV, take a daily pill (Truvada) to reduce their chances of infection. Studies have shown Truvada for PrEP to be up to 99 percent effective at preventing transmission of the virus.

In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Truvada to be used to reduce the risk of HIV transmission among individuals who do not have the virus and who are at high risk of being infected. If taken daily, PrEP can drastically reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex and among people who inject drugs. Last year, after the culmination of two-and-a-half-year study involving 657 patients who took Truvada for PrEP, researchers announced that there were no new HIV infections.

Today, about 1.2 million Americans are HIV-positive. According to CDC data, 43,899 people in the United states were newly diagnosed in 2014. Of these 43,899 diagnoses, 35,571 were male and 8,328 were female. The leading cause was male-to-male sexual contact, with 29,418 diagnoses, followed by heterosexual contact (10,527), injection drug use (2,635), and MSM & IDU (1,217).

HIV Among Women
Today, about 1 in 4 people living with HIV in the US are women. Most new HIV diagnoses in women are attributed to heterosexual sex. Among all women diagnosed with HIV in 2014, an estimated 62 percent were African American, 18 percent were white, and 16 percent were Hispanic/Latina.

HIV in Washington, D.C.
According to CDC data, more than one million Americans are living with HIV, and more than 40,000 are newly diagnosed with HIV each year. In Washington, DC, the estimated rate (per 100,000) of HIV diagnoses of 66.9, which is more than four times higher the national average.

"Our nation's capital has the highest HIV rate in the country, and we are focused on making this revolutionary drug more accessible to everyone in DC," says Jayne Gagliano, Nurx's PrEP Services Coordination. "The rates of HIV diagnoses in DC are higher than the national average for every race, as well as gender."

Access to Truvada for PrEP
A recent report in the Oxford Journal found PrEP to be as safe as taking Aspirin, however, lack of access to this revolutionary drug is a problem many people experience. According to the CDC, 1.2 million people should be on Truvada, yet as of 2015, only 21,000 were on the drug. Federal health officials estimate that about one third of primary care doctors and nurses are actually unaware of Truvada, further impeding access to the drug.

"Unfortunately, access is still a major problem for many who need and want to be on PrEP. We are changing the game in the fight against HIV by making PrEP more accessible through our app," says Hans Gangeskar, CEO and co-founder of Nurx.

4 Steps to PrEP With Nurx: