LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – On March 31, 2016, the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Treatment Advocates Network, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, FAME Corporations, Gilead Sciences, Car Pros Kia of Carson, the Black AIDS Institute and local AIDS service organizations hosted “Black Lives Matter: What’s PrEP Got to Do With It,” a day-long summit held at FAME Corporations to raise awareness and understanding of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Black communities in Los Angeles County.
The event was the latest stop on the PrEP Tour, sponsored by the Black AIDS Institute (BAI) and Gilead Sciences, which is being held across the nation to raise awareness about biomedical prevention tools like PrEP, which reduces the risk of acquiring HIV, and treatment as prevention (TasP), which reduces the risk of transmitting HIV. The Los Angeles gathering included participants from both the medical and political communities, two constituencies vital in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
California politicians have a long history of leadership in fighting HIV/AIDS, but local elected officials are redoubling their efforts.
While Los Angeles has a lower HIV infection rather than some major metropolitan areas, the rates in Los Angeles are still high, and Black men and wo-men are contracting the disease at higher rates than their white or Hispanic counterparts.