Tamar Braxton desires Black ladies to place their sexual well being first. The Grammy-nominated singer, chef, and actress has introduced a brand new model partnership with Gilead Sciences, the pharmaceutical large behind PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a medication for folks prone to contracting HIV. Braxton, who revealed she was a proud person of PrEP in March, introduced the thrilling partnership at ESSENCE Competition’s Protected & Horny Panel on the World Black Financial Discussion board stage over the Fourth of July weekend. The music veteran will assist educate and lift consciousness about PrEP, together with a number of different HIV prevention choices, to empower Black ladies and at-risk populations.
“I’m partnering with Gilead Sciences to assist extra Black ladies see PrEP as an choice for shielding their well being, their peace, and their pleasure. I’m all about courting with confidence, and Black ladies have stopped speaking about HIV, and it must be a part of our dialog once more,” the songstress mentioned, based on a press launch.
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What’s PrEP?
Pre-exposure prophylaxis, generally often called PrEP, is a medicine that helps forestall HIV an infection in people who’re excessive threat as a result of intercourse or injection drug use. PrEP works by stopping the virus from establishing and spreading throughout the physique. There are at present two FDA-approved each day oral drugs for PrEP, in addition to two FDA-approved long-acting injectable choices. When taken as prescribed, PrEP is extraordinarily efficient, lowering the danger of contracting HIV from sexual exercise by about 99%, and by a minimum of 74% for individuals who inject medication. Nevertheless, its effectiveness is considerably decrease when it isn’t taken constantly, based on HIV.gov.
The 2 oral drugs authorised for each day use are Truvada® and Descovy®. Truvada® (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), which additionally has generic variations accessible, is really useful for all people prone to HIV by means of intercourse or injection drug use. Descovy® (emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide) is particularly authorised for sexually energetic males and isn’t indicated for girls in danger by means of vaginal intercourse. Along with drugs, there are two long-acting injectable PrEP choices. Apretude® (cabotegravir) is given each different month to adolescents and adults who weigh a minimum of 77 kilos and are in danger by means of sexual exercise. Yeztugo® (lenacapavir), administered twice a 12 months, additionally begins with two days of oral medicine to succeed in protecting ranges within the physique and is meant for the same at-risk inhabitants.
Why is PrEP essential for Black ladies?
PrEP performs a significant function in defending Black ladies’s well being at a time when disparities in HIV outcomes are strikingly evident. Regardless of making up simply 13% of the U.S. feminine inhabitants, Black ladies account for over half of all new HIV diagnoses amongst ladies. In accordance with a 2024 KFF research, in 2022, non-Hispanic Black or African American females have been 10 occasions extra doubtless than non-Hispanic white females to obtain an HIV analysis.
Moreover, Black folks as a complete have been recognized at greater than seven occasions the speed of white people and accounted for 43% of deaths amongst folks with HIV diagnoses. Though there was a 13% decline in deaths between 2010 and 2018, that pattern reversed with a 15% enhance from 2018 to 2022. Moreover, the best HIV dying charges—the place HIV is listed because the main reason behind dying—proceed to be amongst Black Individuals, with a charge of 5.9 per 100,000 in comparison with 0.6 per 100,000 amongst white people.
Braxton revealed she was a proud person of PrEP in March.
Braxton, recognized for her openness on exhibits like Braxton Household Values and The Actual, publicly shared that she started utilizing PrEP in March. In a video posted to her Instagram account on March 19, the “Love and Struggle” hitmaker revealed that she started utilizing PreEP to guard herself whereas navigating Atlanta’s difficult, and at occasions, ruthless, courting scene.
“I’m not going for what everyone else goes for. I’m simply not going to do this…Like, all of y’all is courting the identical dude,” she defined. “I’m a one-woman man. And I ain’t sharing my man with the streets, though I’m on PrEP. And I’d inform everyone to get on PrEP. As a result of put together your self for the streets.”
Notably, the Southern area of america continues to bear a disproportionate share of the HIV epidemic amongst Black Individuals. In 2022, greater than half (52%) of newly recognized HIV instances amongst Black people occurred within the South, KFF reported. By the top of that very same 12 months, 46% of all Black folks dwelling with HIV have been additionally residing within the area. Georgia emerged as one of many states most closely impacted, reporting 1,697 new HIV diagnoses, making it the second-highest within the nation for HIV instances that 12 months.
Braxton is utilizing her platform to assist Black ladies keep wholesome and stay sexually empowered whereas doing so, and we like to see it.
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