Gilead Supports PrEP Education to Increase HIV Prevention and Awareness

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Aug. 14, 2015 — Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today it is granting funding to 66 organizations to support community-based projects and programs providing education for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy.

Gilead awarded the grants to organizations that provide PrEP education to populations at high risk for HIV infections that are traditionally under-served, including young adult men who have sex with men (MSM), people of Hispanic/Latino ethnicities, transgender women and African American heterosexuals. The selected organizations are developing programs with educational concepts that can be replicated and executed across the United States, maximizing the potential to reduce the number of new HIV infections.

“Each grantee understands the unique needs of the at-risk communities they serve and recognizes HIV prevention education should be tailored accordingly, in a culturally-competent and meaningful way,” says Gregg Alton, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Medical Affairs for Gilead Sciences.

A full list of organizations receiving Gilead grants is included below, and the following are a few of the ways grantees are educating communities about PrEP as one component of multifaceted HIV prevention strategies

• Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans: Leveraging its extensive history supporting Latino high-risk HIV-negative individuals, this association will provide PrEP education to affected individuals and healthcare providers through existing prevention outreach activities and educational workshops. In one year, it expects to educate 1,200 people about PrEP.
• National Black Justice Coalition: The coalition will create a targeted education and advocacy program to increase the black community’s exposure to PrEP, with an emphasis on young MSM and transgender women. The coalition will do this through a social media campaign and in-person events on campuses of historically black colleges and universities.
• National Coalition of STD Directors: Given the popularity of online dating applications, the coalition seeks to use these portals as a forum for prevention. The coalition will leverage built-in, self-sustaining features — such as creating profile options to include PrEP use and risk level of user, as well as automatic reminders for users to get tested based on risk assessment — to help prevent new HIV infections.
• The Black Women’s Health Imperative: Working closely with at least 10 urban healthcare providers nationwide, the organization will initiate a large-scale PrEP awareness and education campaign, reaching approximately 500,000 black women by August 2016.

To date, Gilead has awarded more than $13 million in funding to support PrEP education and awareness grants.

Learn more about Gilead’s corporate grant programs

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapeutics in areas of unmet medical need. The company’s mission is to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases worldwide.  Gilead has operations in more than 30 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.