The Beauty in the Struggle of HIV/PrEP Awareness in the Triad

By: Angail Wiley

According to Usatoday.com, young people, often defined as ages 13 through 24 years, accounted
for 39% of new HIV infections in the United States in 2009, according to surveillance data
published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January. 21% of the U.S.
population is comprised of 15 to 29-year-olds, which makes the reality even more worthy of
discussion. If the details of this demographic are broken down more, this demographic is also
who can majority be found on college campuses.
While this generation of college students is more outspoken and constantly advocating, they have
not taken a trailblazing stance on HIV/AIDS. In addition, you can see that college students are
still afraid to talk about HIV/AIDS because of the historical stigma attached to it. However, on
some college campuses, such as North Carolina A&T State University, the on-campus Student
Health Center is one of few in the state who is dedicated to educating students on the importance
of safe sexual intercourse. At the health center, students can receive check-ups, shots, physicals,
and more. The gem within the health center is their “Healthy Brothers Healthy Sisters” program
that is composed of students dedicated to educating other students on the importance of safe
sexual health practices and the necessary components of a healthy relationship.
The NCAT Health Center is also one of the few campus health centers that is a supplier of Pre-
Exposure Prophylaxis also known as “PrEP.” PrEP is an anti-HIV medication to keep HIV
negative people from becoming infected. PrEP’s breakthrough in the medical field occurred in
2012 and is branded in the market as “Truvada.” PrEP is approved by the FDA and has been
shown to be safe and effective at preventing HIV infection. Because of this, another important
part of Healthy Brothers Healthy Sisters that is important is their HIV/AIDS work, more
specifically their PrEP organization housed within. This group plans programs on campus to
immerse students on the facts and history of HIV/AIDS in effort to stop the stigma surrounding
HIV. Student and peer facilitator Ashley Shaw stated, “being a PrEP Ambassador allows us to
have that uncomfortable conversation and possibly save lives through PrEP alone. I believe the
more society talks about HIV/AIDS, the more persons can prevent contracting the illness or
ensuring proper treatment. We only fear what we don’t know.”
In Greensboro, there is currently a Triad PrEP workgroup within the local Moses Cone Hospital
that is dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness in the area. Efforts are constant as the group meets
once a month and travels to different cities to discuss how advocacy can increase across the state
as they partner with other workgroups. There is also much done to increase the awareness around
PrEP availability in the Triad. There is a myriad of locations that are suppliers of PrEP but are
not heavily marketed. One possible reason that it is hard to market PrEP in the Triad is because
PrEP is just now beginning to pick up how much it is marketed in the nation. This workgroup is
dedicated to informing the public on where they can receive education on HIV/AIDS/PrEP and
PrEP medication.
It is obvious that efforts to educate, inform, and even persuade the Triad community to learn
about HIV/AIDS instead of fleeing from the idea because of its history. North Carolina A&T and
the Triad PrEP workgroup are constantly finding innovative ways to spread awareness and care
to the community.

Works Cited
• Amico , K Rivet, and Sybil Hosek. “What Is PrEP?” What Is PrEP?, Gilead Sciences Inc.
, www.whatisprep.org/.