| > lifestyle PrEP seems to be counterproductive as a public health measure No. Preventing HIV is not "counterproductive" because maybe some people got chlamydia when they shouldn't have. First off, PrEP is more effective at preventing HIV than condoms. Doing away with PrEP to "improve public health" WILL give more people HIV. Second off, people don't always use condoms. We can sit here all day and argue about what people should do or morality or discipline or whatever. None of that matters. What matters is what people ACTUALLY do. We have not yet unlocked mind control so we have to work within the constraints of humanity. Third, people who do use condoms don't actually use them right, generally. Syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea are all transmitted through oral sex. Nobody, even heterosexuals, uses a condom for oral sex. Lastly, other STIs are actually very treatable. While they sound big bad and scary, they're nothing like HIV. 5 days of antibiotics and a runny nose is not equivalent to a lifetime of being HIV positive. People treat other STIs as less serious because they are, especially if you get tested regularly. Gay men and especially gay men on PrEP get tested very, very regularly. The odds of long-term syphilis side effects or whatnot is basically 0. |