Ours is not the first academic study on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Unlike other studies, which have focused on the medical and epidemiological feasibility of PrEP (e.g., 1, 2), or which are currently investigating who needs PrEP and for how long (3), our study seeks to answer a set of different questions such as:
- How do people actually engage with PrEP? What do they think and feel about PrEP?
- Can PrEP influence and shape one’s sense of security with regards to HIV/AIDS? And if so, how does PrEP affect intimate lives and relationships, and therefore the ways in which people are having sex?
- How is it possible that PrEP has already become a massive success (4) and “game changer” (5) in the fight against HIV/AIDS, although PrEP is still lacking institutional support by, for example, NHS England or the British Government?
To gain a better understanding of what we call “the social life of PrEP”, we work with a group of PrEP users, experts, charities, and non-profit organisations to understand how a market for PrEP has emerged within the UK, and to explore how PrEP may impact people’s habits and lifestyles.
If you are currently taking PrEP, have taken PrEP in the past, or are considering taking PrEP in the future, please donate five minutes of your time to fill in our survey on PrEP, or get in touch with us directly.
Beyond the unearthing of scientific insight into PrEP as a socio-cultural phenomenon, it is our aim to inform the development of the roll-out of PrEP within the UK and beyond, and to inform health charities about non-NHS drug market activism. This research project is kindly supported by grants from the Academy of Marketing and Goldsmiths, University of London.
