NEMUS Webinar # 19: The Inclusion of PrEP in the HIV Response in France: Context and Challenges

We are witnessing significant developments in HIV prevention policy. A few days ago, France approved the inclusion of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis with tenofovir/emtricitabine as part of their response to the epidemic (and we just heard today that the South African Medicines Council has approved the use of TDF-FTC for oral PrEP of HIV as well). In this context, discussion of the processes that led to such policy changes, as well as potential impact and challenges, should be broadly discussed. With that idea in mind, this NEMUS' Webinar, offers a presentation by Vincent Douris, from Sidaction, France, with comments from Michael Meulbroek and Ferran Pujol, from BCN Checkpoint, Spain. The title of Vincent's presentation is: The Inclusion of PrEP in the HIV Response in France: Context and Challenges Vincent Douris is currently Program Officer on Quality of Life-Quality of Care at Sidaction, a French NGO and Charity that supports research, prevention and access to care programs in France and abroad. He holds a masters degree in philosophy of the University of Paris 8 and has training in epidemiology at the European Educational Programme in Epidemiology. Since 2004 he has contributed to the development of different sectors at Sidaction: HIV prevention and support for people with HIV/AIDS in prisons, HIV prevention among gay men and other MSM, rapid HIV testing and outreach programmes to reach most-at-risk populations, social sciences projects and, finally, quality of life and quality of care projects. In 2013, he contributed to the coordination of a special HIV/AIDS issue of Genre, sexualité et société, a French scientific online publication, and, in 2015, he published a book chapter on Community based research, published at Les Presses de l'Université du Québec. Involved on PrEP issues since 2009, he contributed to a community consultation on PrEP in France that was held in 2010, before the launch of the Ipergay trial. BCN Checkpoint is a Community-Based Center for the detection of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in Barcelona, which is active since 2006. Unique in its kind in Spain, BNC Checkpoint is managed by Ferran Pujol and Michael Meulbroek of Projecte dels NOMS-Hispanosida. The services offered by BCN Checkpoint include testing for HIV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and hepatitis C, vaccination for Hepatitis A and B, Linkage to care and treatment for people who test positive results, Community-based Research. BCN Checkpoint is conveniently located in the gay district of Barcelona. More information: http://nemus-hiv.net/en/   / nemus.hiv