Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW, 2017
The latest findings from the PrEPARE Project have now been published. The PrEPARE Project is a longitudinal study of Australian gay and bisexual men’s attitudes to biomedical HIV prevention, particularly PrEP and treatment as prevention (TasP).
With the unprecedented scaling up of PrEP access in many states over the last few years, we have observed a surge in PrEP use, and increasing levels of support for PrEP in the community. Belief in the effectiveness of TasP has also increased, although many men remain skeptical about it. The report includes national summary data. it is hoped that the report will be useful in assessing community readiness for biomedical prevention and potential issues in implementation.
Key findings:
» Nearly a quarter of gay and bisexual men (24%) reported they had ever used PrEP. This was a large increase from the 2015 survey (3%).
» Most current PrEP users were accessing it from a research study or demonstration project (82%) and the majority (74%) reported increased sexual confidence and reduced concern about acquiring HIV as a result of PrEP.
» Nearly all participants (95%) had heard of PrEP and two-thirds of participants (66%) knew someone who had taken PrEP; substantial increases from the 2015 survey. Knowledge of PrEP also improved between 2015 and 2017.
» Willingness to use PrEP has increased among HIV-negative and untested men (to 37% in 2017) and concern about using it has fallen (to 36%).
» Support for gay and bisexual men using PrEP increased to 75% in 2017, as did willingness to have sex with someone using PrEP (47%).
» Belief that HIV treatment prevents transmission increased to 20% in 2017; the increase was primarily among HIV-negative and untested men.
» Agreement that early HIV treatment is necessary increased to 79% in 2017; this increase was concentrated among HIV-positive men