Inequities in PrEP use according to Medicare status in a publicly funded sexual health clinic; a retrospective analysis

Aaron Coleman; Ben John Maslen; Rosalind Foster

doi:10.1071/SH23141

EDITORIAL

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Inequities in PrEP use according to Medicare status in a publicly funded sexual health clinic; a retrospective analysis

Aaron Coleman ^A , Ben John Maslen

^B and Rosalind Foster

^A ^C ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses, Population and Community Health, South East Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.

^B UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

^C The Kirby Institute, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: Rosalind.foster@health.nsw.gov.au

Handling Editor: Eric Chow

Sexual Health 21, SH23141 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23141

Submitted: 14 August 2023 Accepted: 29 January 2024 Published: 22 February 2024

Abstract

New HIV diagnoses continue to disproportionately affect overseas-born men who have sex with men (MSM). A retrospective study of all pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-eligible MSM attending Sydney Sexual Health Centre for the first time in 2021 analysed self-reported PrEP-use, PrEP prescribed at the initial consult, and PrEP taken during 2021 using binomial logistic regression models. A total of 1367 clients were included in the analysis, 716 (52.4%) were born overseas and 414 (57.8%) were Medicare-ineligible. Medicare-ineligible clients were less likely to be on PrEP at initial visit (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.26–0.77). This study suggests inequities in PrEP access and/or awareness in Medicare-ineligible MSM in Australia.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, HIV prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis, primary care, public health.

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