AIDS Project Los Angeles: This World AIDS Day, Ask Your County Supervisor to Support PrEP

An Action Alert from AIDS Project Los Angeles —

Call your County Supervisor today and ask him or her to support the scale-up of PrEP in Los Angeles County to ensure that individuals and communities most at risk for HIV have knowledge of and access to this game-changing HIV prevention intervention!

Today is World AIDS Day, a time to both reflect on the progress we’ve made and to raise awareness about a disease that continues to adversely impact our communities. Despite great strides in treatment and education over the last three decades, nearly 2,000 individuals are infected with HIV in Los Angeles County each year. PrEP is a powerful new tool to help prevent the spread of HIV and, if implemented thoughtfully, could finally turn the tide of this epidemic.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is the process of taking a medication every day to reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV and it has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection by over 90% when taken consistently. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that those at risk for HIV explore PrEP as a prevention option. Additionally, numerous community and advocacy organizations have called for the widespread scale-up of this critically important prevention tool.

Other jurisdictions are already stepping up to the plate. New York state, Washington state, and San Francisco have already taken significant steps this year to improve access to PrEP. Public health departments have a responsibility to ensure that PrEP is available to all those who need it.

In an op ed published today on the Huffingon Post, Craig Thompson, CEO of AIDS Project Los Angeles and APLA Health & Wellness, called on Los Angeles County officials to help ensure access to PrEP. Thompson points out that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has fully endorsed the use of PrEP as a critical component of its overall HIV prevention strategy and now the County must act.

What You Can Do:

Call your Supervisor now! Ask them to do everything within their power to educate the community about PrEP and help Angelenos in need access this proven HIV prevention tool.

• District 1 – Supervisor Hilda Solis – 213-974-4111
• District 2 – Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas – 213-974-2222
• District 3 – Supervisor Sheila Kuehl – 213-974-3333
• District 4 – Supervisor Don Knabe – 213-974-4444
• District 5 – Supervisor Michael Antonovich – 213-974-5555

If you don’t know the name of your County Supervisor, you can look them up on the LA County website. If you live in District 1 or 3, you have a new Supervisor starting today, so be patient. These offices are literally being sworn in on World AIDS Day.

When you call your Supervisor tell them:

“Today, in honor of World AIDS Day, I’m calling to ask Supervisor _____ to support the scale-up of PrEP in Los Angeles County. PrEP is a new HIV prevention intervention where individuals can take a medication to stay HIV-negative and it’s a potential game-changer in the battle against HIV. The County must do everything it can to educate those at risk and help those who need assistance access PrEP. I urge you to support the swift implementation of PrEP in Los Angeles County. We must take advantage of this new HIV prevention tool now! Thank you so much for all of your work on this critical issue.”

Call your Supervisor today and ask them to support PrEP in Los Angeles County. 

Take Action Now! Thank you.