Researchers at UNC recently contributed to a breakthrough that might have gotten us one step closer to eradicating HIV. Unfortunately, the director of the UNC HIV Cure Center, Dr. David Margolis, noted that we’re still pretty far from a pill that cures HIV.
There is, however, a pill that can prevent HIV.
Truvada is a once-daily pill that is taken as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), and can reduce the risk of getting sexually-transmitted HIV by 99%. Unfortunately, UNC students might have a hard time getting their hands on this life-saving medication on campus.
As one of the leaders of anti-HIV research, you’d think that UNC would also be at the forefront of HIV prevention efforts, especially for its students. But I know from personal experience that some students face barriers to filling their Truvada prescriptions on campus.
Campus Health has amazing laboratory services for STI screenings and thoughtful, sensitive providers who can prescribe Truvada as PrEP. These resources are wonderful, and I’ve even come to form a great relationship with my provider about my sexual health, but the final step — actually getting Truvada on campus — is missing.
According to a pharmacist at Campus Health, it's possible for them to fill Truvada prescriptions. But for most insurance plans, including Student Blue, they can only fill it the first time before students have to find a specialty pharmacy off campus. For some students who are covered by Medicaid, they can forget about getting Truvada on campus at all.
This was my experience.
I was on Medicaid insurance for my first three years at Carolina, which luckily covered Truvada for most of that time — and then I turned 21. Since North Carolina hasn’t expanded Medicaid under the ACA, on my 21st birthday, I aged out of comprehensive coverage.
Fortunately, my family was able to get private insurance coverage about six months later. However, the next time I tried to get Truvada, the specialty pharmacy that I was referred to fumbled my case. Even after multiple rounds of phone calls with representatives, they couldn’t properly transfer my order to the nearest pharmacy. So, I gave up and opted not to take the medication.