PrEP My Way. New campaign to encourage the uptake of PrEP

posted by: Susan Mills

Local Authorities across the South West have come together to launch a new campaign to raise awareness of, and educate people about, the HIV preventative drug ‘PrEP’(pre-exposure prophylaxis). This campaign is aimed at raising awareness among underrepresented communities at risk of HIV who may not have previously been a target group for previous health promotion campaigns around HIV and PrEP

PrEP is a tablet that can be taken prior to having sex, either as a daily tablet, or on an ‘event’ basis (for more information, check out the website below).PrEP is highly effective and reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed. ‘PrEP My Way’ is a new campaign that encourages people to find out if PrEP is right for them, urging them to reach out to their local sexual health services for an appointment.

In April 2021, PrEP became available for free on the NHS in the UK as part of the Government’s aims to end HIV transmissions by 2030. To support this goal and encourage uptake in their area, local authorities in the South West came together to seek a better understanding of the public perception of HIV and PrEP. This allowed them to create a behavioural science-focussed campaign that helps to change perceptions of, and encourage conversation around, both topics.

PrEP My Way campaign has a confident, reassuring, friendly, upbeat and non-judgemental tone. This approach helps to destigmatise the discussion around safe sex, HIV and PrEP. The campaign is candid, informative, inclusive and fun. It dispels myths about HIV and helps to educate people about it. It has been developed with healthcare professionals to ensure all information presented is accurate and evidence-based.

 Rob Carroll, Consultant in Public Health and Chair of the South West Sexual Health Network, says: “We are proud to come together for such an important campaign. The aim is to raise awareness about PrEP and how to access this from Sexual Health services across the South West. We hope this will reduce the risk of acquiring HIV among our under-represented populations

“PrEP is now readily available on the NHS for free, and we encourage people to reach out to their sexual health clinics to find out if it is the right option for them. We know people report feeling less anxiety around contracting HIV when on PrEP, and we want to highlight the positives throughout this campaign and encourage conversation in communities that perhaps are not as confident at discussing sex and HIV.”

To learn more about the PrEP My Way campaign please visit the website:
Follow on social media:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/people/Pr-EP-My-Way/100092317404155/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/PrEPMyWaySW
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/prepmyway/