32 London boroughs started collaborating on HIV prevention marketing campaigns 10 years ago when the Do It London brand was launched by the London HIV Prevention Programme.
- The councils in London fund a pan-capital HIV prevention programme
- As part of that a marketing campaign has been run which in recent years has helped to promote PrEP
- This is combined with outreach work which is targeted at bars, saunas and community events for gay, bisexual, men who have sex with men community (GBMSM).
The 32 London boroughs started collaborating on HIV prevention marketing campaigns 10 years ago when the Do It London brand was launched by the London HIV Prevention Programme.
The focus was originally on using condoms and getting tested, but in recent years that has been extended to include raising awareness about PrEP as well as the U = U message, which means if someone has an undetectable viral load they cannot sexually transmit HIV to others.
This has been branded as the Be Sure: Know the Four campaign since 2022 and highlights the effectiveness of the four methods of prevention.
From bus stop adverts to social media campaigns
This year the campaign has run across social media, digital platforms, community radio stations and via outdoor advertisement, such as bus stops, train stations and billboards, over the late autumn and winter months.
London HIV Prevention Programme Lead Commissioner Robbie Currie said: ‘Each channel has its own merits in terms of reaching out to different populations. The outdoor advertisements are very much about reaching the whole population.
“But we know with HIV and PrEP it is important to target specific groups. Community radio is very effective at reaching out to the black/African community for example.
“On social media we have run campaigns on X and You Tube and we are also looking to experiment with Instagram and TikTok. There is a limited budget in local government so you have to think creatively about how to make sure your message goes far and wide and reaches the communities you are targeting.”
To help, Do It London has worked with influencers such as the actor Nathaniel Hall, who appear in the TV series It’s A Sin, as well as TV doctor Dr Ranj Singh, who have endorsed the campaign on social media. All the marketing assets are also made available to individual London councils for their local teams to amplify the campaign.
It certainly seems to be having an impact. In the past year there has been a 26 per cent increase in the use of PrEP and new HIV diagnoses have fallen by 7 per cent, continuing a longer-term trend which has seen them fall by 66 per cent in the past six years.
‘Health promotion has to evolve’
Mr Currie said the team is always looking at ways to improve the way the health promotion campaign is done. “We have tried to develop it iteratively. We used to call it ‘Four Sure’, but moved to the ‘Be Sure: Know the Four’ message as feedback suggested people needed more assurance and to make them feel more secure about the importance and effectiveness of the four prevention methods.”
And next year he is looking to make a further change. “We have tended to focus on a big splash, starting the campaign in the autumn once everyone is back from summer holidays and coinciding with World Aids Day.
“But going forward we want to move to something more evergreen that we can run throughout the year and have little splashes, piggy-backing on specific awareness days and when HIV and sexual health is in the headlines or off the back of events like Pride.
“There is still quite a variation in terms of awareness and understanding about PrEP. The GBMSM community is very aware – although we do find a lack of knowledge with younger people who are just becoming sexually active. Sex education at schools is not as good as it should be and they may not have had the relationship and sex education to enable them to look after their sexual health well.
“By comparison, awareness is much lower among the Black-African community and those who are newly-arrived in the country who may not understand how the NHS works or have had access to PrEP in the countries they have come from.”
‘Don’t forget importance of outreach work’
But Do It London does not just relying on marketing, there is also a GBMSM outreach and engagement team that provides community-based HIV and sexual health testing, free condoms and lube as well as promoting PrEP and making onward referrals.
The service, which is provided by a number of different voluntary organisations, visits bars, clubs, saunas and community events across the capital.
‘You need to do face-to-face outreach work like this on top of the marketing,’ says Dr Will Nutland, co-director of Love Tank, one of the groups involved in delivering the outreach programme.
‘Awareness is increasing about PrEP generally, but you still find some people need convincing or are unsure why it is for them. A big barrier at the moment is that PrEP is largely only available from sexual health clinics and not everyone is comfortable using those.
“Spending time talking to people through outreach work is an essential part of improving take-up.”
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