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Telemedicine expands access to PrEP, Emory study finds
Atlanta is still seeing high HIV infection rates, but some new research shows promise.
Rebecca Grapevine
December 04, 2025 • Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Hi, Atlanta!
The U.S. government declined to celebrate World AIDS Day this week for the first time since 1988. But some Atlanta researchers are taking the occasion to highlight some work being done on HIV prevention and treatment.
Longtime Atlanta HIV care and prevention advocates Daniel Driffin and Leisha McKinley-Beach said in a press release they see the White House’s decision as a “call to action” for focusing on ground-up, community advocacy. Driffin last year introduced then-first lady Jill Biden during a White House ceremony marking World AIDS Day.
Driffin and McKinley-Beach recently launched a new think tank focused on HIV in Georgia, the Public Health Innovation Lab, and have conducted listening sessions in Atlanta and Macon with plans for similar sessions on Dec. 15 in Columbus, followed by Augusta, Albany, and Savannah.
Meanwhile, here are some highlights from new research at Emory University:
Telemedicine’s role in HIV prevention has dramatically expanded: In 2024, one-fifth of patients received pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs for HIV prevention via telemedicine, according to a new study published on Monday, World AIDS Day, by lead author and Emory University professor Aaron Siegler. That’s way up from 2019, when just 1% of users got their prescriptions via telemedicine. In real numbers, about 110,000 of about 580,000 accessed PrEP via telemedicine last year. The vast majority, 77%, were first-time PrEP users, and about one-third were uninsured.
Emory researchers have also developed a new modeling tool that shows the impact policy changes (such as funding) for treatment and prevention could have on new HIV diagnoses and health care costs. A 5% increase in the number of people receiving PrEP could prevent more than 12,000 new infections over the coming decade and save more than $5 billion in health care costs.
AIDSVu, based at Emory, last month released new city-level data about HIV in America in 2023. The city continues to have one of the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses in the country: 31 per 100,000 people. That’s on par with comparable Southern cities like Dallas, Houston, Memphis, and Miami. The map allows you to zoom in and see how different ZIP codes fare with diagnosis and treatment.
The belief that we have the science to address the HIV epidemic led Anthony Fauci and Gregory Folkers to this week write, “We could achieve a world where new HIV infections and deaths from advanced HIV/AIDS were very rare,” if widespread testing could identify people with HIV globally and help them with treatments to reduce their viral load — and the risk of transmission.
🎤‘Aha’ Moments
Brandon Kenemer is an associate director for informatics focused on data science, surveillance, communications, and bioinformatics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At our live event, “'Aha' Moments in Public Health: A Night of Healthbeat Storytelling,” he shares how seeing the movie “Outbreak” as a child set him on a path to a career in science and public health. Read it here, and watch it on YouTube.
And Anaré V. Holmes, a firefighter with the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, shares his story about a life-changing call that gave him a new perspective on care — and his own identity. Watch his story here. Watch the full show here.
Upcoming Events
Emory’s School of Public Health, 1518 Clifton Rd. in Atlanta, is hosting several arts events focused on HIV over the next few days. These include:
📷 Stories of Triumph Exhibit, featuring photography and narratives from Southern advocates, weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Tuesday.
📽️ Premiere Screening of “Living Proof,” a documentary about HIV among Black women in the South,1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Margaret H. Rollins ballroom. Reserve a seat here.
ICYMI
Here’s a recap of the latest reporting from Healthbeat:
Baby formula recall: Moms say ByHeart recall has shaken their trust in baby formula safety
Nursing: Nurses with addiction risk careers if they seek help. Recovery advocates urge an alternative
Hepatitis B vaccine: It’s on the agenda for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting this week at the CDC. What parents need to know.
Public Health on the Move
Morehouse School of Medicine has received a $1 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to strengthen medical education and the nation’s health care system. This investment is part of the foundation’s $7.5 million commitment to Historically Black College and University medical schools.
Grady Health this week opened a new outpatient clinic on Flat Shoals Road in Decatur. The clinic will provide a wide range of services, including behavioral health, general surgery, nephrology, mammograms, and CT scans. Grady also plans to open a new clinic on Candler Road before the end of the year.
The Grapevine 🍇
What I’m hearing from readers:
Thank you so much for your story on the GA and National breast (and cervical cancer) screening programs. This story tells me ‘you get it!’ You understand public health, prevention, and communities, which is wonderful and needed to effectively communicate public health to the public.
Hear from Healthbeat on other platforms:
WUPA’s “Focus Atlanta”: I’ll discuss my recent reporting on breast cancer screening gaps. Tune in at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
What Do You Know?
Test your knowledge of public health topics. Today’s question:
Hepatitis B is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids. For how long can the virus survive on a surface? |
Tell Me More
What questions do you have about public health in Atlanta? You can reach me at [email protected], post a comment, or reply to this email.
In health,
Rebecca
Thumbnail image by Getty Images
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