Only 20% of people in the UK know about PrEP, poll finds
Despite PrEP’s effectiveness at preventing HIV, new research has revealed that just 20% of people know about it in the UK. The drug reduces the risk of getting the virus from sex by 99% when taken correctly, though the findings from YouGov’s new polling, which was conducted on behalf of Terrence Higgins Trust, shows that ignorance about it is still rife.
In fact, only a quarter of the British public know that an HIV-positive person cannot pass on the virus when on effective treatment.
In addition, a staggering 77% of people don’t know that England can end new HIV cases by 2030 as the government proposed on World AIDS Day in 2021.
Sexual health clinics and charities both stress the importance of knowing your status in order to achieve this goal. However, only 27% of people know that you can safely and accurately test for HIV without visiting a clinic in person.
