Nashville/Davidson County HIV Infections up 5% in 2018 over 2017
The 2018 TN Department of Health Tennessee HIV Epidemiological Profile aka “Surveillance Report” is out and it seems that new HIV infections in Nashville/Davidson County have ticked up 5% in 2018. In real numbers, this means 147 new cases in 2018 versus 139 new cases in 2017.
The Rod Bragg Music City PrEP Clinic’s mission is to reduce to zero new HIV infections in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Our primary tool today for accomplishing this mission is to encourage as many sexually active “at risk” patients as possible to see a physician and get a prescription for Truvada, aka PrEP, which has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by 99%.
Unfortunately, the price for PrEP for uninsured patients is about $2000 per month. Some Medicare patients have co-pay costs over $500 per month. And many privately insured patients have high-deductibles (in the thousands of dollars) before PrEP prescription coverage is available to them.
We joined the fight in earnest in July 2018 with the launch of our pharmacy operations, enabling us to bring greater prescription payment assistance, zero office fees, and zero lab fees–with the target of zero out-of-pocket costs–for every at risk member of our community.
We are deeply grateful to our community members with excellent insurance benefits who #FillWithUs so that we are able to fill the prescriptions of patients who are under-insured and uninsured. We are also in awe of the patients and community members who have become volunteers–literally flipping the table and greeting patients from the other side of the reception window. To-date, an overwhelming majority of our volunteer staff are also patients. And finally, we want to recognize those community members who have made direct donations to the cause. Lab costs–which include regular screens for HIV, chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, a CMP blood test, and annual Hep ABC testing–run about $100 per patient every 3 months.
We aspire to support and bolster the efforts of our existing community partners in an effort to reduce to zero, new cases of HIV. Join us. Be a hero. Getting Lucky? Get tested. Become a volunteer. Fill with us.
Music City PrEP is a charitable care 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We are sensitive to the needs of LGBTQ+, MSM, and POC comunities.
#BeAHero #Get2Zero #FillWithUs
