- Home
-
Report Sections
- Active Military and Veterans
- Animal Welfare
- Appropriations and Funding
- Children, Families & Persons with Disabilities
- Climate Change and Environmental Protection
- Consumer Protection
- Cradle to Career Public Education
- Economic Development, Job Creation and Workers Rights
- Equity, Access to Justice and Civil Rights
- Housing
- Mental Health, Public Health and Health Care
- Public Safety
- Tax Relief
- Transportation
Expanding Access to PrEP
Status
Passed by the Senate
Bill
An Act enabling pharmacists to prescribe, dispense and administer (PrEP)
Today in Massachusetts, individuals who take PrEP must make an appointment and go through their doctor, a barrier that can stand in the way for people who need the medication on short notice, cannot make an appointment, or cannot access medical care. This bill would make PrEP more accessible.
Highlights
- Allows Massachusetts pharmacists to prescribe PrEP—pre-exposure prophylaxis—a life-saving medication that is nearly 100 per cent effective in stopping the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
- Under the bill, pharmacists could only prescribe PrEP to patients who have tested negative for HIV within the past seven days, do not have HIV symptoms, and are not taking medications that are not safe to use with PrEP.
- Pharmacists would be capped at prescribing a 60-month supply of the medication to an individual patient once every two years.
"PrEP is a game changer in HIV prevention. Yet, while this life-saving medication reduces the risk of transmission by 99 per cent, it remains inaccessible for too many. Allowing pharmacists to prescribe and dispense PrEP on a short-term basis, similar to what’s already allowed for contraceptives, would significantly increase the accessibility of this essential HIV prevention tool. With greater access to PrEP we can narrow the gap in PrEP utilization among LGBTQ+ people of color. I am someone who uses PrEP and most of my gay, bisexual and queer friends rely on it too. With this legislation, we are once again putting people at the center of our public health policy."
- Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro)
- Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro)
