cliniQ submits recommendations on inclusion and representation of trans people to World Health Organisation’s PrEP Implementation Guidelines

cliniQ held a public involvement meeting with nine trans and non-binary sexual health service users on Thursday 18 June 2015.

The group, lasting two hours, was conducted to allow trans people’s experiences to feed into the WHO PrEP Implementation Guidelines. The full report, including information from a second public involvement meeting for gay/MSM enrolled on the PROUD study is available HERE.

• Existing data suggests 49% greater risk of HIV among trans women compared to all adults of reproductive age across 15 countries (van Griensven 2012). Despite this, it is clear from the responses and the discussions that trans communities do not feel represented by the information about PrEP that is currently available.

• Trans participants of varying gender identities and morphologies felt that information about “men” and “women” provided by existing studies excluded them, and had the potential to create messages about PrEP usage which are either unclear or not at all applicable to trans people.

• The group felt that any guidance concerning PrEP usage needed to be able to refer to accurate, inclusive research that could clearly outline the implications of taking PrEP for trans people. If such data and information becomes available, resulting guidelines and public health campaigns would need to be visibly inclusive of trans people, including case studies and visual representations.

• The group explored the possibility of integrated sexual health and gender care services, and although there was significant distrust of both general practice and gender care services (as they exist currently), it is clear that there is scope for PrEP to be included as part of gender care. By including PrEP in transitional services, there is the potential to mitigate the additional risks our participants felt they experienced at varying points in their transition journey.