Configuring the PrEP user: framing pre-exposure prophylaxis in UK newsprint 2012-2016

A decade of PrEP: the evolution of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis content and sentiments in South African print news media, 2012-2021

After nearly a decade of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) rollout in sub-Saharan Africa, there has been limited study of PrEP messaging in news media. We selected twenty South African newspapers with the highest circulation volumes to retrieve articles published in 2012-2021 mentioning PrEP (N = 249). Using inductive content analysis, we developed a structured codebook to characterise PrEP-related content and sentiments, as well as their evolution over time, in the South African press. Many articles espoused favourable attitudes towards PrEP (52%), but a sizeable fraction espoused unfavourable attitudes (11%). Relative to PrEP-favourable articles, PrEP-unfavourable articles were significantly more likely to emphasise the drawbacks/consequences of PrEP use, including adherence/persistence requirements (52% vs. 24%, p = .007), cost (48% vs. 11%, p < .001), and risk compensation (52% vs. 5%, p < .001). Nevertheless, the presence of these drawbacks/consequences in print media largely declined over time. Key populations (e.g. adolescents, female sex workers) were frequently mentioned potential PrEP candidates. Despite message variations over time, prevention effectiveness and adherence/persistence requirements were the most widely cited PrEP benefits and drawbacks, respectively. Study findings demonstrate the dynamic nature of PrEP coverage in the South African press, likely in response to PrEP scale-up and real-world PrEP implementation during the study period.

Beyond the neoliberal label: A historical perspective on sexual actors and responsibility in HIV prevention in England (1986-2023)

Framed across three distinct periods of the history of neoliberalism and the HIV epidemic in England, this article conducts a detailed examination of the concept of personal responsibility and its contested uses within HIV prevention. The article questions the theoretical potential of neoliberal subjectivities to comprehend behaviours related to the pharmaceuticalised governance (or lack thereof) of gay men's sexual health, exploring the gap between theories emphasising individual responsibility and the practical experiences of gay men. The analysis draws on testimonials from gay men in oral history interviews and archival sources. The article illustrates how the pervasive notion of personal responsibility in England has been co-opted by neoliberal ideologies, leading to the stigmatisation of gay men whose sexual behaviours diverge from public health mandates. The widespread stigmatisation resulting from this ideology underscores a significant limitation in the theoretical framework of neoliberal subjectivities. This constraint extends beyond merely failing to grasp the complexity of sexual behaviours; it also reflects a lack of understanding of any other behaviour related to public health. Therefore, the article concludes by advocating the necessity of employing and constructing alternative theoretical frameworks to comprehend the pharmaceutical governance or lack thereof of gay men's sexual health. Through a concise autoethnography of the authors' pharmaceutical sexual health governance, the article introduces the concept of biocommesuration as an illustrative analysis that transcends the limitations of neoliberal subjectivities.

Communicative appeals and messaging frames in visual media for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis promotion to cisgender and transgender women

Women in the USA represent 15% of new HIV diagnoses but only 5% of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users. We sought to characterise communicative appeals and messaging frames used in US visual media to cultivate PrEP demand among cisgender and transgender women using content analysis methodology. We catalogued and coded media items (images and videos) from US PrEP marketing campaigns featuring women. Production and content characteristics were abstracted, and communicative appeals from media items were qualitatively coded in duplicate. We then descriptively summarised production and content characteristics and identified discrete subgroups of media items, clustering around specific messaging frames, through qualitative thematic analysis. Racial/ethnic minorities and sexual/gender minority women were heavily featured, and numerous media items leveraged cognitive and social communicative appeals to promote PrEP. We identified three unique messaging frames emerging from coded media items, portraying PrEP as: (1) necessary prevention (protection frame), (2) a desirable yet accessible commodity (aspiration frame), and (3) a conduit to sexual autonomy (empowerment frame). To effectively communicate PrEP information and promote PrEP to women, PrEP marketing should leverage alternative appeals (subjective norms, self-efficacy), address anticipated barriers to uptake (stigma, cost, medication interactions), and deconstruct misconceptions of PrEP use(rs).

Motivators for oral PrEP uptake and adherence in the eThekwini municipality, KwaZulu-Natal

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a single daily pill that prevents a seropositive HIV status. Since 2016, South Africa has staggered PrEP roll-out, with uptake levels not reaching optimal goals. The aim of this study was to determine motivation behind PrEP initiation and adherence among South African users. A phenomenological qualitative study (n = 15) was used. Participants were purposively recruited from two primary healthcare clinics in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Three themes were identified: motivation for PrEP uptake, PrEP adherence and PrEP awareness. Initiation was influenced by healthcare professionals. Responsibility for one's well-being, serodiscordant relationships and sexual partner's behavioural patterns contributed toward initiation. Most were fully compliant, using reminders to negate medication forgetfulness. The internet and healthcare professionals served as information sources, however, few were aware of PrEP prior to this. Innovative ways are required to increase awareness levels and increase uptake.

PrEP for women in Europe: a systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Prevention of HIV transmission is fundamental to ending the HIV epidemic. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with oral tenofovir-emtricitabine (TDF-FTC) is an established HIV-prevention method; however, most PrEP services in Europe have been targeted at men who have sex with men (MSM). A survey in 2021 by Women Against Viruses in Europe (WAVE) showed considerable variation in PrEP access and guidance for women throughout Europe. WAVE therefore commissioned this systematic review to provide insight into PrEP provision and barriers to uptake for women in Europe.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were searched for studies (January 2013-May 2021) that reported on actual (e.g., efficacy and safety) or hypothetical (e.g., awareness, barriers, PrEP impact models) use of oral PrEP involving women (including cis, transgender, pregnant, migrant, and breastfeeding women). Search terms included HIV, pre-exposure prophylaxis (specifically TDF-FTC), and women. Studies performed outside of the World Health Organization European region were excluded.

RESULTS

The search identified 4716 unique citations, and 45 peer-reviewed articles (44 studies) were included. The majority of these studies (34/44 [77%]) included recipients or potential recipients of PrEP, representing 4699 women (243 transgender women). However, few studies were women focused (4/34 [12%]) or took place outside of Western Europe (3/34 [9%]). Across the three clinical studies that reported women-specific outcomes (60 transgender women, 13 pregnant, and 19 cis women), no breakthrough infections were recorded during the use of PrEP. Lack of awareness of PrEP, low self-estimation of HIV acquisition risk, concerns about stigma, lack of protection against other sexually transmitted infections, and PrEP interaction with hormones (for transgender women) were identified as barriers to use. The remaining studies examined healthcare professionals' perceptions of PrEP (9/44 [20%]), asked for public opinion (2/44 [5%]), or modelled the potential of PrEP for HIV prevention (1/44 [2%]).

CONCLUSIONS

This review revealed a notable lack of literature on PrEP for cis and transgender women in Europe. This is synonymous with a lack of PrEP provision for women in this region. Barriers to PrEP uptake are complex and rooted in institutional and societal stigma, which must be addressed at policy level. HIV prevention with PrEP is not 'one size fits all' and requires a nuanced gender-responsive approach. Further research into the use of PrEP in cis, pregnant, breastfeeding, and transgender women is essential if we are to stop HIV transmission by 2030.

From training wheels to chemical condoms: Exploring narratives of PrEP discontinuation

This paper explores experiences of PrEP, a HIV-prevention intervention, among bugchasers, gay men who eroticize HIV. While PrEP has been hailed as a "game changer" in HIV-prevention, little attention has been paid to why and how some people may discontinue it in the face of HIV risk, such as bugchasers do. This paper relies on interview data with bugchasers themselves to discuss the process of discontinuation and its effects. The paper argues that, for these men, discontinuation is a fluid, complex, and sometimes contradictory process. It also describes how participants perceived themselves as being at different stages of discontinuation. The paper also analyzes how these men see PrEP as a barrier to intimacy, risk, and a tool to negotiate their desires and identity: through discontinuing PrEP, these men are able to reflect on and build their identities as bugchasers.

Understanding how PrEP is made successful: Implementation science needs an evidence-making approach

After a decade of oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the next generation of PrEP is being anticipated, including long-acting pills, injections, and implants. The unevenness of international PrEP implementation is increasingly recognised, with successful rollout in some settings and failure in others. There is a need to better understand conditions of PrEP implementation, and its localised (and sometimes unanticipated) effects. Implementation science explores how contexts and health systems shape the successful translation of health interventions. In this essay, we consider how PrEP is evolving and argue for an 'evidence-making' approach in relation to evidence and intervention translations. This approach emphasises how both interventions and their implementation contexts are co-constituted and evolve together. Unsettling the assumed universality of an intervention's effects and potential in relation to its implementation contexts helps to harness the localised possibilities for what PrEP might become. As the next generation of PrEP offers renewed promise, we must explore how PrEP is put to use and made to work in relation to its evolving situations. We urge implementation science to consider implementation processes as 'evidence-making events' in which evidence, intervention and context evolve together.

The Construction of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) by Prevention Professionals as a Tool for Black African Migrant Women … or Not?

While sub-Saharan African migrants are recognized as a key population in the HIV epidemics, they are absent from the PrEP delivery system and in particular women. The central argument of this article is that PrEP for Black African migrant women is an ambivalent offer that makes it necessary to understand how migration, gender, sexuality, and origin interact. Bringing together a sociologist and a prevention project manager, this article looks at how Belgian prevention professionals navigate with this ambivalent offer. From semi-directive interviews we explore how PrEP is constructed as a prevention tool for this population. The results show that different causalities are attributed to their absence from PrEP delivery system. This pluralism leads us to argue that there is a real blurring in the definition of this public as a "priority" in terms not only of representations and practices but also of political agenda.

Clinician imaginaries of HIV PrEP users in and beyond the gay community in Australia

Through the development and implementation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the characteristics of PrEP users have been configured in a range of ways. Drawing on the concept of 'imaginaries', we consider how clinicians imagine PrEP users and related communities. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews in 2019-2020 with PrEP-providing clinicians based in New South Wales and Western Australia. Participants included general practitioners, sexual health nurses and sexual health doctors. We inductively developed three themes through a reflexive thematic analysis: 'PrEP users as 99% gay men/MSM', 'The informed and connected PrEP user', and 'Condom users in the PrEP era'. Participants imagined PrEP users primarily as gay men, and so we focused on how gay community was imagined in relation to PrEP users. Users were imagined as supporting one another to use PrEP effectively, but some were imagined as threatening norms of condom use amongst gay community. Analysing clinician imaginaries of PrEP users reveals insight into how clinicians speculate about and engage with changing community norms related to condom use and accessing PrEP. These imaginaries reveal ongoing tensions about who is believed to be best suited to PrEP, and PrEP's impact on norms of conduct in imagined biosocial communities like gay men.

« On n'arrive pas à les toucher » : la PrEP, les migrant.e.s africain.e.s et la production de l'ignorance

Quelques années après sa mise sur le marché, on réalise que la PrEP (la prophylaxie pré-exposition) touche peu de monde, y compris dans le Nord global qui est son lieu principal de distribution. Les migrant.e.s africain.e.s, le groupe le plus touché par l'épidémie après les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels entre hommes (HSH), ne l'utilisent quasiment pas et ne le connaissent généralement pas. Cet article invite à considérer la non-utilisation de la PrEP par les migrant.e.s africain.e.s non pas comme un problème tributaire du public cible, mais comme un effet de l'ignorance produite par « l'industrie du sida » à l'endroit de ce public. L'ignorance est ici comprise comme une production active à l'articulation d'enjeux pharmaceutiques, politiques et épistémiques donnant à voir des choix de non-recherche, là où des connaissances pourraient être utiles pour le public concerné.