Derbyshire Community Health Services (DCHS) has launched their latest campaign which aims to raise awareness and educate about the HIV prevention drug, PrEP, as well as increase uptake across the county.
PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a drug which should be taken prior to engaging in sexual activity. When taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective and can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by around 99%*. DCHS’s ‘Stay PrEPared’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the drug, encouraging people to find out if they are eligible for free PrEP prescriptions via their local sexual health clinic.
PrEP became readily available on the NHS in the UK in April 2021 as part of the government’s aim to end HIV transmission by 2030 – with a total of £ 39 million in funding being distributed among local authorities to deliver PrEP via local sexual health services. To support the government’s reduced HIV transmission goal, DCHS sought to gain an understanding of public awareness and perceptions of the HIV prevention drug to help inform a marketing campaign which would increase PrEP uptake in Derbyshire.
Previous research highlighted that current knowledge about PrEP is limited among specific groups, with many people experiencing feelings of shame or stigma around accessing and taking the drug. Whilst there is a higher awareness of PrEP among certain groups, such as men who have sex with men and those who are over the age of 44, wider understanding of the drug is limited. This is likely to be due to these two groups being the focus of campaign pilots to date.
The Stay PrEPared campaign uses an inclusive, friendly tone of voice, which is fun, playful and conversational to help destigmatise the discussion around safer sex and the use of PrEP. Stay PrEPared aims to provide information which is inclusive of anyone who is deemed as ‘at risk’ of contracting HIV, which can extend to men who have sex with men (MSM), people who have unprotected sex with multiple partners, sex workers, those with a HIV-positive partner, and other minority groups.
Rebecca Spencer, General Manager, Derbyshire Integrated Sexual Health Services said: “Many of those who currently take PrEP have reported feeling less anxiety in relation to contracting HIV, which in turn has allowed for their sexual encounters to feel more intimate. Through highlighting the benefits of taking PrEP and cultivating sex-positive discussions, we hope to tackle the stigma surrounding taking PrEP, having sex with multiple partners or engaging in sexual relations with those who are HIV positive.”
Working with healthcare professionals and people who are already using PrEP, this campaign engages with ‘trusted voices’ using facts and real-life testimonials to increase relatability and reduce stigma around taking the HIV prevention drug. Through encouraging discussion around the fun and positive aspects of protected sex rather than placing emphasis on the risks of contracting HIV, the Stay PrEPared campaign takes an approach which highlights that safer sex, is great sex.
To learn more about the Stay PrEPared campaign, please visit this link.
*Statistics have been taken from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention