The federal government is making an HIV treatment called PrEP free to the public, but only for those with health insurance. The South Dakota Department of Health reports over 700 people in the state are living with the disease.  

There’s no cure for HIV so far, but prevention methods are effective in stopping further transmission of the virus. If left unchecked, the virus can turn into AIDs, a deadly disease.  

Dr. Susan Hoover, who specializes in infectious disease at Sanford Health, said re-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is 99 percent effective to prevent infections from sexual contact.  

“For some people even if they have insurance, there was still co-pays not only for the medication but for the associated office visits and lab tests so I think this could be a game-changer for many people,” Hoover said. “As you know, being insured doesn’t guarantee that you can still afford your medical costs.”  

Administrator in the Office of Disease Prevention Services with the South Dakota Department of Health, Cassie Deffenbaugh, is concerned about racial disparities in HIV cases. 

“Our Black or African American population make up about 2.3 percent of South Dakota’s population but about 24 of HIV cases,” she said. “Native Americans and American Indians make up about 9 percent of South Dakota’s population but are 17 percent of those cases so certainly some disparities there that we work on lessening and decreasing. Whether it’s barriers to access to care or getting people into treatment and care for all South Dakotans.”  

Deffenbaugh said prevention methods and testing are important to stay on top of the risk of HIV infections.  

“If you test positive for other diseases like chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis, the more you test positive for those disease, the more at risk you are later in life or later on to acquiring HIV,” she said. 

Deffenbaugh predicted that increasing access to PrEP will prevents HIV from spreading even further across the state.  

This story comes from recent interviews on SDPB's weekday radio program, "In the Moment." Listen to the full interviews below.