Cal State Dominguez Hills, in Carson, has received a $656,000 federal grant to set up a program to improve the access young gay African American men have to an anti-viral drug treatment program that can help prevent HIV infection.
The National Institutes of Health awarded the grant to sociology professor Matt Mutchler this week to address the disproportionate rate of new HIV infections among young black men. A daily drug protocol called PrEP can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by as much as 99%, research has shown.
Mutchler, the director of the CSUDH Urban Community Research Center, will develop a pilot program called PrEP-Talk that pairs friends with a counselor to discuss the benefits of the drug regimen.
“The hope is that the friends will learn ways to support each other’s sexual health more effectively and that some of the young black gay men will begin taking PrEP on their own to help protect themselves,” Mutchler said. “If the findings are promising, then PrEP-Talk can be made available for others to use in their communities.”
Source: Daily Breeze
