Highly Commended
PRIME – Making HIV History
Summary of work
It is estimated that half of HIV cases in the UK are caught from people who have recently become HIV+, with men who have sex with men (MSM) most affected. The agency took a targeted approach aiming to reduce the spread of HIV by focusing on those with a >10% risk of becoming HIV+ in a year.
Following focus groups with MSM who were engaged in risky sexual practices, it was identified that this population were looking for emotional and educational support that was tailored to different lifestyles and that spoke to them in a non-judgmental way.
Accessing them through their mobiles was a key strategy as this group showed high levels of engagement with online mobile media for sexual purposes.
The solution was an intervention called PRIME that provided support to help users make better choices, delivered through mobile. It included five digital programmes based around different sexual behaviours so members could switch intervention as their lifestyle changed.
89% of users said that PRIME has helped them to stay HIV negative. In terms of outcomes, PRIME users saw a 94% fall in HIV infection risk, along with a >50% reduction in other sexually transmitted diseases.
Judges’ comments
PRIME was an effective multichannel campaign that was really well thought through. It made great use of communications techniques and clearly had a very strong understanding of the audience it was targeting, which all led to an impressive number of people who were saved by the work.
