Empowerment Through PrEP Access is Self-Care | IAS 2025

Self-care should include greater PrEP access, which can look like stocking private pharmacies for at-risk individuals, rather than government clinics with limited hours, according to Anna Bershteyn, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Bershteyn suggests that more PrEP access at alternate locations provides more opportunities for HIV testing.

“The question now is, does that private pharmacy or community health worker have the capability to do a rapid diagnostic test that providers normally give? Bershteyn said in a recent video interview with Managed Healthcare Executive. “A simple solution could be that they have the client do an HIV self-test in front of them, or, if you're really trusting the client, you could have them do an HIV self-test at home before they came in [for PrEP.]”

Anna Bershteyn, Ph.D.

The International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science is held this year in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 13 to 17. Bershteyn will present research at two sessions: ‘HIV Self-Testing impact on HIV diagnosis and treatment’ and ‘Developing objective targets for monitoring PrEP program progress.’