Is PrEP something you should think about? CDC issues new guidelines on HIV prevention.

The CDC issued new guidelines on HIV prevention on Wednesday.

While a cure for HIV has remained elusive, in recent years there have been great strides made in the prevention and management of HIV and AIDS, the disease the virus causes if left untreated.

Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to dramatically expand access to HIV prevention medication. Released on Wednesday, the CDC's newest guidelines encourage more-frequent conversations about HIV prevention medications among health care providers and patients. The guidelines also highlight new medications recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and some pending FDA approval, to further increase those options.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP, is preventative medication that reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by up to 99% when taken as prescribed. When taken appropriately, it has a low risk of side effects and is highly effective.

But preliminary CDC data suggests that, as of 2020, only a quarter of people for whom PrEP was recommended were taking it.