PrEP stands for “pre-exposure prophylaxis”, meaning it is a tool to stop infection (“prophylaxis”) that is taken before you are exposed to that infection.  This website is focused on PrEP for stopping HIV.

People at risk for HIV, like men who have sex with men should seriously consider PrEP along with condoms for maximum HIV prevention.

Choices for PrEP include:

Daily use of oral PrEP medication in pill form (DESCOVY, Truvada or other generic versions);

Or

Injectable long-acting PrEP (APRETUDE), injected once every two months.

Find out more about injectable long-acting PrEP (APRETUDE) at our new page: https://hivnow.ca/injectable-prep-and-hiv-treatments/

Important Note:PrEP it is not a cure for HIV and it does not protect you from other sexually transmitted infections (e.g. syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, hepatitis C). You should consider condoms and Doxy-PEP to prevent STIs.

For more on Doxy PEP: https://www.actoronto.org/health-information/doxy-pep-and-doxy-prep/

For more on condoms & lube: https://www.actoronto.org/health-information/campaign-1-condoms-lube/

Viral load is the amount of HIV present in a milliliter (mL) of blood. Viral load testing is a regular part of a health check-ups for people who are HIV-positive. You may see a viral load measure written as “undetectable” or “suppressed.”

Undetectable refers to a viral load that is below levels that can be detected on standard HIV viral load tests. This does not mean the virus is gone. In Ontario, this means that there are 40-50 copies of the HIV virus per mL of blood. This is important because it means they cannot pass HIV on to someone else.

A person’s viral load being suppressed does not mean they are cured of HIV as there is no cure. They are still HIV-positive, but medications allow their immune system to function regularly and prevent their ability to pass HIV to someone else sexually.