The need to prevent HIV infections and improve the health of transgender men and women is urgent. Although there are very few data on trans men, it is estimated that, globally, trans women have an HIV prevalence of 19%—49 times higher than that of the general population. In high-income countries, the prevalence is estimated to be 22% with the highest rate among trans women of color.
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center is the largest specialist provider of health services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in New York, serving more than 15,000 clients including 3,095 trans men and women. Over half of the clinic’s trans clients are Black or Latino, one third do not have health insurance, and 15% are homeless or unstably housed. Yet in the last two years, through dedicated efforts to engage transgender men and women with clinical services and encourage them to use PrEP, Callen-Lorde has gone from having only one or two transgender people starting PrEP each month to around 15 trans people enrolling monthly. Now, of the 2324 individuals who have ever received PrEP from the center, 195 are transgender.
Read more to learn how the clinic was able to produce this marked increase in the uptake of PrEP by transgender clients.
