The 2nd European PrEP Summit took place in Warsaw, Poland from October 10-12. More than 200 activists, PrEP users, civil society, academia and doctors have gathered from all over Europe and Central Asia to discuss the current state, challenges and opportunities of PrEP use.

Although pre-exposure prophylaxis, or shortly PrEP, is a very effective method of preventing HIV infections, it´s uptake and rollout has been slow in the WHO Europe region. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report a major gap in accessing PrEP, about half a million gay men and other MSM, who would use PrEP do not access it in our region, and there is not even adequate information on access in other populations: women, trans people, sex workers or people who use drugs.

PrEP is mostly accepted and supported at the peer and community level by gay men and other MSM, while in other communities, such as among women, there is a lot of stigma and shame surrounding PrEP use.

Currently only the oral tablet (tenofovir TDF + emtricitabine FTC) is approved for PrEP in the European Union (2014), both in branded and generic versions, but there are developments of new drugs and different administration ways of PrEP. However, their price and their affordability for health systems might be major barriers to access in the future.

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More about the 2nd European PrEP Summit:

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Other information on PrEP in Europe on our website:

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