The PrEP Empowerment project is an NHMRC Ideas Grant project investigating the barriers and facilitators experienced by young gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, as well as investigating the knowledge and understanding which General Practitioners have in relation to HIV PrEP. This is the first national study in Australia which is focused exclusively on 18 to 25 year old gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men regarding their access to HIV PrEP.
Approximately two-thirds of new HIV infections diagnosed in Australia are in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) with the 18-to-25-year age group identified as priority population due to lower PrEP use than older GBMSM, particularly in areas where there are low concentrations of gay-identified men.
The project aims to identify the barriers to young gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men (YGBQMSM) living in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas of Australia accessing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of HIV infection. The study will also investigate General Practitioner awareness and knowledge of PrEP and ED-PrEP, along with perceived and actual barriers to prescribing PrEP to inform the development of a peer led, m-health intervention.
The findings from the project will be utilised to develop a peer-led, m-health education intervention that offers a lay-person's perspective on HIV prevention, whilst assisting men in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas of Australia to link to, and navigate the healthcare system. It is expected that this study will provide a significant contribution to reducing the barriers to accessing PrEP and ED-PrEP using peer-navigators and health education.
To investigate the experiences of young cisgender gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (hereafter queer young men) living in metropolitan, regional and rural areas of Australia and determine their experiences of barriers to accessing preventative HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment.
Research question 1: What are the barriers experienced by queer young men individuals living in metropolitan, regional and rural communities in accessing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis?
Research question 2: What is the level of awareness and knowledge of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in queer young men living in metropolitan, regional and rural areas?
Research question 3: What is the level of awareness and knowledge of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in general practitioners working in metropolitan, regional and rural areas?
Project period
1 January 2025 to 31 December 2027
Project funding
$1.25 million National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC Ideas Grant)
Field of Research
420319 Primary Health Care
420605 Preventative Health Care
440506 Sexualities