APLA Health co-sponsored and helped pass Senate Bill 159, the first law of its kind in the nation to authorize pharmacists to furnish PrEP and PEP without a physician prescription. The legislation also prohibits insurance companies from requiring patients to obtain prior authorization before using their insurance benefits to obtain these critical HIV prevention medications.

“We cannot end the HIV epidemic until we ensure that all Californians have access to PrEP and PEP,” said APLA Health Director of HIV Prevention Services Terry Smith. “SB 159 will help to increase awareness of PrEP and PEP, make it easier for people to access these medications from trusted community pharmacists and prevent insurance delays that can put people at greater risk of acquiring HIV.”

Hey, missed our email earlier this week? Our first fundraising challenge of the year is here! The top three individual Walkers who raise the most money as of yesterday, August 6 to Tuesday, August 11 will earn a spot on ABC7’s Localish featuring AIDS Walk Los Angeles! We’ll only have one more challenge this year where you can win, and that will be our Teams challenge next week. So if you are a solo Walker, a Star Walker, or even just someone with heart of gold and a story to tell, this is the week to take action! Donations made before August 6 or After August 11 are not eligible for this challenge.

Students of Oakwood School have been participating in AIDS Walk Los Angeles since 1985, and they are not letting a pandemic stop them from organizing! Though it’s been a challenge to maintain their social connection online, the students are playing to their strengths and addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic through their art. They’ve created their own Instagram account, each student has committed to recruiting five friends each to join them, and their goal is to host their own, mini, socially-distant AIDS Walk celebration on September 13th. They have even split their team into three branches amongst all three Walk courses this year. When asked why the students keep coming back year after year, Mickey Morgan, the team’s supervising teacher, said, “You’re not just throwing money at people; you’re providing unequivocally good things for people who unequivocally need it.”