In a long-awaited move, an independent advisory panel is recommending that doctors be encouraged to offer an HIV prevention pill, a step that would quickly expand insurance coverage for a medicine that has been difficult for some people to access due to its cost.

In explaining its decision, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force determined there is “high certainty” that using the pill would provide a “substantial” benefit for people at a high risk of becoming infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. The independent panel of experts noted that it found “adequate epidemiologic data” on risk factors that can be used to identify people who are at a high risk of acquiring HIV.