Full Report

Drug checking allows individuals to learn the composition of their drugs prior to use, and is being offered as a way to avert overdose while also providing low-barrier opportunities to connect people to harm reduction and other social and health services. We interviewed 11 providers in the US and Canada working in drug checking service […]

People who engage in sex work (PESW) are particularly vulnerable to criminalization even when seeking to report experiencing victimization. The health and safety of those engaged in sex work is further jeopardized as condoms have been historically used as evidence of sex work. California Senate Bill (SB) 233, taking effect on January 1, 2020, was […]

A new study from the California HIV/AIDS Policy Research Centers, in collaboration with the Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy, Birth Control Pharmacist, and the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists, finds that more than 90% of California pharmacists surveyed believed that access to HIV prevention medications and contraception in pharmacies is important. Researchers examined […]

In the ongoing mpox (monkeypox) outbreak of 2022, California is the state with the highest number of cases and Los Angeles County (LAC) has the highest number of reported cases in the state. As of December 9, 2022, 2,245 confirmed mpox cases have been reported in LAC (LAC Department ofPublic Health, 2022). Most were among […]

A decade after the FDA approved PrEP for HIV prevention, PrEP is still not accessible to all Americans who might benefit from this HIV prevention strategy. In this policy brief, we describe opportunities for expanded PrEP access.

Disparities in uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) exist along racial, ethnic, and gender lines. The use of telehealth to provide PrEP and associated services (“tele-PrEP”) is a trend that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, but we find it has increased for some providers along with the growing use of telehealth generally. However, little is known […]

The HIV care workforce is facing a shortage of providers. This guide provides an overview of two safety-net clinics in California that aimed to improve HIV care workforce capacity and patient access to care as part of a national demonstration project. The guide features a description of the key components of each clinic’s model and […]

Recent trends suggest that declines in California’s adult tobacco use rates have stalled in the last few years, which has serious implications for reversing the substantial progress made in California to reduce tobacco-related diseases. Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) are more likely to use tobacco compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Compared to their heterosexual, […]

The vast majority of all HIV-specific criminal incidents in California involve people engaged in sex work or those suspected of engaging in sex work. A new report finds that women—and Black women, in particular—are the most disproportionately impacted by California’s sex work laws, both as they apply to people living with HIV and people not […]

Access to stable affordable housing is a critical component of treatment and care for people living with HIV (PLWH), as well as a successful method of preventing new infections. Federally-funded housing programs provide housing subsidies and supportive services; however, available funding does not meet the housing needs of most low-income PLWH in California, 12% of […]