28 June 2024
A Hawaiʻi health advocacy organization is applauding Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green for expanding access to life-saving HIV prevention medication to adolescents older than 14 years old.
Screenshot of image from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website
Green recently signed Senate Bill 3125 into law. As of Jan. 1, 2025, the new law allows teens 14 and older to get pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, without parental consent, safeguarding the privacy and autonomy of adolescents who might be hesitant to disclose their sexual orientation to their parents or guardians.
“This policy change puts decision-making power in the hands of those who are directly impacted. Having worked in HIV care and prevention for over a decade, I can think of countless examples of people where access to PrEP could have altered the course of their life,” said Kekoa Kealoha, Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center’s Ryan White HIV/Program administrative manager. “I am grateful that our policymakers understand the urgency of this needed reform.”
Kealoha provided in-person testimony in support of SB 3125 earlier this year and the center commends Green for signing it into state law.
The center supported prior versions of the bill dating back to 2019. In alignment with its core mission to reduce harm, promote health, create wellness and fight stigma, the Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center supports the empowerment of all people, including youth from at-risk communities, to make decisions necessary to protect their health and further their well-being.
The Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center provides medical case management services to more than 700 people living with HIV on Oʻahu.
The organization will offer on-site services with a provider to assist adolescents with PrEP access in January 2025 and moving forward. PrEP navigation services are now available to those 18 and older.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%. The CDC also recommends the use of condoms even with PrEP to protect against other sexually transmitted infections.
“Mahalo to Gov. Green for prioritizing public health, to his administration for strengthening our state’s longstanding commitment to HIV prevention and to the legislature for enacting this needed reform,” said Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center Executive Director Heather Lusk. “This prevention measure is especially timely given the current slate of proposed cuts to federal HIV funding in the U.S. House.”
Among proposed cuts:
A $190 million decrease in funding for the Ryan White HIV/Program.
A $214 million decrease in the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention.
A $15 million decrease in the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund.
Those seeking more information about PrEP or interested in scheduling an appointment with the Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center’s PrEP provider can click here or call 808-521-2437.