Background

Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can prevent up to 99% of HIV transmissions with proper adherence, uptake remains low and disparities persist, especially in the Southeastern United States (US). Pharmacies represent a practical avenue to expand access to PrEP, but little is known about their proximity compared to PrEP-prescribing locations.

Methods

Data was compiled from the 2024 National Council for Prescription Drug Programs for active retail and community pharmacies, PrEP Locator for public and private PrEP-prescribing locations, and census block population-weighted centroids for 3 states in the Southeastern US with the highest HIV burden (Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana). ArcGIS Pro was leveraged to determine the straight-line distance in miles to the closest pharmacy and PrEP-prescribing location from each centroid.

Results

Across all 3 states, the median distance to the nearest pharmacy was 0.89 miles vs. 3.46 miles for PrEP-prescribing locations. Separately, the median distance to the closest pharmacy vs. PrEP-prescribing location as well as the respective minimums and maximums were 0.74 miles [0.01, 68.6] vs. 2.81 miles [0.03, 69.0] for Florida (n = 5,160 census blocks), 1.18 miles [0.01, 21.6] vs. 4.48 miles [0.06, 47.7] for Georgia (n = 2,796 census blocks), and 1.12 miles [0.02, 35.60] vs. 5.45 miles [0.04, 71.1] for Louisiana (n = 1,388 census blocks). Notably, a wide range of values was observed but PrEP-prescribing locations were consistently farther from people than pharmacies. (Figure 1).

Conclusion

These findings suggest a substantial potential decrease in distance to pharmacies versus PrEP-prescribing locations. Legislation providing pharmacists with the authority to dispense PrEP is thus needed to improve HIV prevention efforts from a convenience and access perspective.