PrEP “adherence” schemes get creepier and creepier

Subdermal implants???

In some ways, posting yet again about PrEP feels a little like Groundhog Day, but since I don’t really see any other sources on the internet or elsewhere critical of PrEP, I will continue to do so. This post won’t be long.

The article Long-Acting PrEP Solutions for At-Risk Populations appeared in the Brown University School of Public Health’s publication. I’m already suspicious because of the use of the term “long-acting PrEP solutions.”

The article discusses the relative merits of administering PrEP via injection (this is the case with Apretude), monthly pills, and, chillingly, subdermal implants. From the article:

For HIV prevention, a daily pill known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a lifeline for high-risk populations. However, staying faithful to this daily regimen isn’t always straightforward, and lapses can compromise its effectiveness.

There are many reasons people don't stick with PrEP, including cost, disruption to daily routines, HIV-related stigma, and fear of real and perceived side effects of the medication. 

I’m impressed that they acknowledged that these medications have serious side effects, but what I find fascinating is the almost religious language that is used whenever “compliance” or “adherence” to an “anti-HIV” drug regimen is being discussed. PrEP is a lifeline for high risk populations? Remaining faithful to your daily regimen? What kind of creepy moralizing is this?

I won’t even bother discussing the side effects, or point out yet again the ridiculousness of “adhering” to a regime of medication for a condition one doesn’t even have. Both the concept around long-acting PrEP—the desperation to get entire risk groups enslaved to a risky medication regime for life by enhancing its convenience—and the moralistic, religious sounding language around it are insane and proof that we are catapulting at warp speed into a post-truth society.

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