In some ways, HIV prevention is like weight loss: 1. Populations who can benefit the most have the most difficulty receiving it. 2. We continue to focus on the outcome and not address the structural issues like poverty, racism, etc. 3. Even knowing that someone like myself who could benefit from Ozempic for diabetes management, insurance has declined it until I try a series of other drugs and prove that I'm impacted by the side effects and unable to take it before this drug will be approved. In HIV insurance or lack thereof, and the ability to pay for the medication, regardless of which platform you can access it, is still a barrier. These are the issues that need to be addressed.
Spot on, Leisha. You’re calling out everything that’s messed up in our health care system—access issues, racism baked into the system, sky-high costs, and the way we keep sidelining prevention. It’s exhausting, and it needs to change.
In some ways, HIV prevention is like weight loss: 1. Populations who can benefit the most have the most difficulty receiving it. 2. We continue to focus on the outcome and not address the structural issues like poverty, racism, etc. 3. Even knowing that someone like myself who could benefit from Ozempic for diabetes management, insurance has declined it until I try a series of other drugs and prove that I'm impacted by the side effects and unable to take it before this drug will be approved. In HIV insurance or lack thereof, and the ability to pay for the medication, regardless of which platform you can access it, is still a barrier. These are the issues that need to be addressed.
Spot on, Leisha. You’re calling out everything that’s messed up in our health care system—access issues, racism baked into the system, sky-high costs, and the way we keep sidelining prevention. It’s exhausting, and it needs to change.