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Assessing the need for a pre‐exposure prophylaxis programme using the social media app Grindr®
Author(s) -
Hampel B,
Kusejko K,
Braun DL,
HarrisonQuintana J,
Kouyos R,
Fehr J
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
hiv medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.53
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1468-1293
pISSN - 1464-2662
DOI - 10.1111/hiv.12521
Subject(s) - medicine , men who have sex with men , family medicine , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , social media , hiv screening , test (biology) , demography , world wide web , paleontology , syphilis , computer science , biology , sociology
Objectives HIV pre‐exposure prophylaxis (Pr EP ) is not approved in Switzerland and therefore must be paid for by the users themselves. We conducted a survey to find out whether men who have sex with men ( MSM ) in Switzerland are already taking Pr EP , or are considering using it, and whether it is being taken under medical supervision or not. Methods Grindr® is a geosocial networking app for MSM . Between 5 and 24 January 2017, users of the app who were located in Switzerland by a global positioning system ( GPS ) were asked to participate in a ten‐question survey on Pr EP use. Results Of the 2455 people who took part in the survey, 1893 were included in the analysis. Eighty‐two participants (4.3%) reported that they were currently taking Pr EP , 64 of whom (78%) said that they were under medical supervision. Seven Pr EP users (9%) declared that they had not taken an HIV test within the previous 12 months. Nine hundred and forty‐four (49.9%) were considering taking Pr EP in the next 6 months, and 1474 (77.9%) were considering taking it at some point in the future. Conclusions In an online survey carried out among sexually active MSM in Switzerland, only a minority of the individuals approached responded that they were currently using Pr EP . However, the majority of participants were considering taking Pr EP in the future. We identified a substantial proportion of Pr EP users taking Pr EP outside a medical setting. Hence, a national programme facilitating access to medical care and providing Pr EP is urgently needed.