Hispanic women are less likely to get PrEP treatment—new intervention could change that

In the U.S., by the HIV epidemic in recent years.

Yet they've been less likely to take advantage of PrEP, a medication that . So to inform more people about the medication by adding it to an existing and proven HIV-prevention program aimed at heterosexual Hispanic women. All of the participants in the —none of whom previously were aware of PrEP—said they were satisfied with the intervention, and the vast majority learned a great deal.

These results lead us to believe that this could be a good way to lower rates of HIV in the Hispanic community. We are who . Along with our team, .

It is an intervention that uses that is culturally tailored to Hispanic women to promote HIV prevention. The program builds on the existing . SEPA, which in Spanish stands for health, education, prevention and , was created for Hispanic women 18-49.

It has been shown to . To create SEPA+PrEP, we adapted and updated the original SEPA intervention and added content on PrEP. We piloted the program with 44 Hispanic women in Miami-Dade County.

The women attended three weekly sessions, each two hours long. Participants took part in discussions and role-playing activities, while practicing their communication skills and interacting with their peers. None of the participants knew about PrEP prior to the study, and 70% had not used a condom for vaginal sex in the previous three months.

More than half reported that they were not concerned about getting HIV before participating in the program. After the , w.