Georgia residents may soon be able to access HIV prevention medicine at their local pharmacy if a bipartisan push from state lawmakers to make the drugs faster and easier to access is successful.
Senate Bill 195, which was introduced by Rome Republican Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, would allow pharmacists to both prescribe and administer medication, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), that can help reduce the likelihood of acquiring HIV. It passed the House Thursday in a 155-7 vote, and now heads back to the Senate for further debate.
HIV is the virus that, left untreated, leads to AIDS. According to 2024 data from the nonpartisan health research and policy institute KFF, Georgia’s rate of HIV diagnoses was twice that of the national rate, and second only to the District of Columbia.
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