Researchers at NYU Langone’s Resilience, Intersectional Stigma, and Empowerment (RISE) Lab are also exploring barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in people who use injection drugs.

Intersectional Stigma Experiences, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Other Service Use Among People Who Inject Drugs

PrEP can prevent HIV infection among people who inject drugs. However, PrEP use among people who inject drugs is low, and there have been several recent HIV outbreaks in this demographic throughout the United States. Few studies have focused on PrEP for this population, although many people who inject drugs meet criteria for PrEP.

A significant barrier to PrEP for in this group is stigma (i.e., social devaluation and discrediting) related to drug use and other characteristics, which can translate into negative healthcare interactions and/or healthcare avoidance as well as healthcare providers being less willing to prescribe PrEP to people who inject drugs.

Stigma can be perpetuated at the individual level, organizational level (e.g., in healthcare, drug treatment, pharmacies, or syringe exchange programs), and the structural level in the form of state policies.

Please see further project details at the National Institutes of Health RePORTER.