Aligning Efforts to Boost Medications for Opioid Use Disorder and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Prevention
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Opioid use disorder (OUD) and HIV infection are critical public health issues.
• Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) effectively reduce risks but have low uptake.
• Current efforts to increase MOUD and PrEP use are largely independent.

Discussion:

• MOUD and PrEP can be integrated into office-based OUD treatment settings.
• An integrated framework is necessary to promote the utilization of both MOUD and PrEP.
• The OUD care cascade model can be adapted to incorporate PrEP monitoring and services.

Key Insights:

• Integrating MOUD and PrEP services can enhance uptake of both interventions.
• A unified measurement framework, like dashboards, can track progress and identify gaps.
• Addressing real-world challenges across the care continuum is crucial for successful integration.

Outlook:

• Integrating MOUD and PrEP monitoring and research is essential for accelerating progress.
• This integrated approach can strengthen efforts to combat both HIV and opioid overdose.
• Future strategies should focus on optimizing treatment and retention for co-occurring OUD and HIV prevention needs.