Configuring the PrEP user

Framing pre-exposure prophylaxis in UK newsprint 2012–2016

Bibliographic Data

ID15099795
AuthorsIsabel Young (0000-0002-1242-5992, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author), Nicola Boydell (0000-0002-2260-8020, University of Edinburgh), C Patterson (0000-0002-5914-8718, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit), Shona Hilton (0000-0003-0633-8152, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK), Lisa Mcdaid (0000-0002-7711-8723, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK)
Year2021
Volume23
Issue6
Pages772-787
Publication date2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2020.1729420
PMID32252605
OpenAlexW3006486032
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited25

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been hailed as a revolutionary intervention for HIV prevention. PrEP's controversial status in the UK has generated significant media coverage. It is important to understand what role the media plays in framing PrEP policy issues. We undertook a qualitative analysis of UK newsprint articles between 2012 and 2016 to examine how PrEP was framed as a public health intervention up until a controversial policy decision not to provide PrEP in England. We identified how scientific evidence was deployed to shape two narratives: ir/responsible citizens focused on imagined PrEP users and their capacity to use PrEP effectively; and the public health imperative , which described the need for PrEP. Our analysis demonstrates the particular ways in which scientific evidence contributed to the certainty of PrEP as an effective intervention within UK newsprint. Scientific evidence also played a key role in framing PrEP as an intervention specifically for cis-gendered gay and bisexual men, playing into wider debates about who is a deserving patient and the appropriate use of public resources. Practitioners in the UK and elsewhere should be aware of these constructions of the PrEP user to ensure equitable access to PrEP beyond gay and bisexual men

Certainty · Family medicine · Framing (construction · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Intervention (counseling · Media coverage · Media studies · Men who have sex with men · Narrative · Newsprint · Political science · Pre-exposure prophylaxis · Public relations · Sociology · Engineering · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Nursing · Sex work and related issues