About PrEP and who can take it

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is medicine you take to reduce your risk of HIV infection.

You may be at risk of HIV if you are HIV-negative and you:

• do not always use condoms for sex
• share drug-injecting equipment

Some people can get PrEP free of charge.

Who benefits from PrEP

You are likely to benefit from PrEP for many reasons.

Sex without condoms with HIV partners

You may benefit from PrEP if you are having sex without condoms with HIV-positive partners who are either:

• not on HIV treatment
• on treatment but not virally suppressed (they do not have an undetectable viral load)

An undetectable viral load means there is only a very small amount of the virus in your body. It is so low that it cannot be picked up by standard blood tests.

When the virus is undetectable, it cannot be passed on through sex.

Your viral load needs to be checked regularly by a healthcare professional.

You are a man having sex with men

You may benefit from PrEP if you are a man who has sex with men.

This includes transgender men or women who have sex with men and 1 of the following:

• had anal sex without condoms with more than 1 partner in the last 6 months
• are likely to have anal sex without a condom in the next 3 months
• had an STI in the past year
• used HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in the past year
• used recreational drugs for sex (also known as chemsex) in the last 6 months

You are at risk of getting HIV

PrEP may be of benefit to you if you are considered to be at risk of HIV through:

• sex
• sharing drug-injecting equipment

Who should not take PrEP

Do not take PrEP if you:

• have HIV
• do not know your HIV status
• are allergic to the PrEP medicines available in Ireland

Getting PrEP free of charge

You can get PrEP for free if:

• you are likely to benefit from it
• it is safe for you to take
• you will attend follow-up appointments, usually every 3 to 6 months

You can get it through a public PrEP clinic or other approved PrEP provider.

But you will need to have 1 of these cards:

• Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) card
• medical card
• Long-term Illness card

You can apply for a DPS card if you have a PPS number. Talk to your pharmacist about the Drugs Payment Scheme.

If you do not have a PPS number, you can apply to get one.

Getting a PPS number - citizensinformation.ie

Approved PrEP providers

You can get PrEP from an approved PrEP provider such as your GP or a private clinic. But you will have to pay for the consultation, tests, STI treatment and vaccines.

Approved PrEP service providers

Who cannot get PrEP free of charge

You cannot get PrEP for free if you are in a mutually monogamous relationship (when 2 people are only in a relationship with each other) with a partner who is:

• living with HIV on treatment and has the virus under control
• HIV negative

If you cannot get PrEP for free

If you are not eligible to get PrEP free of charge, you can buy it on prescription from a pharmacy.

Buying PrEP online

It is possible to buy generic PrEP products over the internet.

It is illegal:

• to source prescription medicine without a prescription
• for suppliers to sell prescription medicines online to people in Ireland

Dangers of buying prescription medicines online - hpra.ie