Bob the Drag Queen urges people to take PrEP (VIDEO)
The newest winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Bob the Drag Queen, is urging people to take the anti-HIV medication, PrEP.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drug Truvada can reduce people’s chances of being infected with HIV by up to 99 percent, if taken daily.
In the latest HIV Beats video by the #endHIV campaign, Bob says: “Oh hey! Prepare yourself! There is a once a day pill called PrEP… it’s been shown to lower the risk of getting HIV by more than 90%.”
“Any doctor can prescribe PrEP, but not all doctors know about PrEP.
“You can find a PrEP friendly doctor in your neighbourhood by heading to getprep.greaterthan.org,” she explains.
Though the drug is endorsed by the World Health Organisation and is available to at-risk gay men in a number of countries, NHS England has repeatedly deferred a decision on the drugs.
This is despite a pilot scheme showing the drugs were incredibly effective at reducing HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM).
Last week, NHS England ruled out a large scale roll-out for PrEP instead funding a further two-year trial at “early implementer” sites.
Stephen Fry, meanwhile, has slammed NHS England’s ‘deeply frustrating’ decision to not commission HIV-preventing PrEP drugs.
The actor and TV host said: “I never imagined I would be alive to see the day when a pill was created that could actually prevent HIV.
“It is remarkable and thrilling to witness so tremendous an achievement, but deeply frustrating in equal measure to discover that our national health service has pointedly refused to provide it to people at significant risk of infection from HIV.”