Male and female condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are highly effective against HIV. Moreover, a diverse range of behavioural interventions have been implemented since the 1980s. Despite this, there are thousands of new HIV infections every year.

The extremely high rate of infections seen in PrEP studies shows the urgency of improving HIV prevention. In the PROUD study, 9% of gay men who did not receive PrEP became HIV positive within a year. For this sub-group of gay men, existing prevention interventions clearly are not sufficient. PrEP has the potential to prevent new infections among some of those at greatest risk of acquiring HIV.

Although condoms work well for many people, describing them as the only acceptable method of HIV prevention is not helpful. PrEP gives clinicians and HIV prevention workers an additional option that will be appropriate for some, but not all, people. Individuals may need different HIV prevention options for different periods of their lives as their circumstances change.