<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><ns2:project xmlns:ns1="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/gtr/api" xmlns:ns2="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/gtr/api/project" xmlns:ns3="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/gtr/api/fund" xmlns:ns4="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/gtr/api/person" xmlns:ns5="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/gtr/api/project/outcome" xmlns:ns6="http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/gtr/api/organisation" ns1:created="2026-07-08T08:44:08Z" ns1:href="http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/projects/E6878A53-24D9-43AC-A8BF-D34B166ADF5A" ns1:id="E6878A53-24D9-43AC-A8BF-D34B166ADF5A"><ns1:links><ns1:link ns1:href="http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/persons/E1B1A3B6-EB08-4290-9AFF-D4D5A976382D" ns1:rel="PM_PER"/><ns1:link ns1:href="http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/organisations/4AA39771-78C3-4223-A18D-4F36D1D5BA66" ns1:rel="LEAD_ORG"/><ns1:link ns1:href="http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/organisations/4AA39771-78C3-4223-A18D-4F36D1D5BA66" ns1:rel="PARTICIPANT_ORG"/><ns1:link ns1:end="2019-10-31T00:00:00Z" ns1:href="http://gtr.ukri.org/gtr/api/funds/3A91CA29-8852-4D60-A9D8-9020F82942E1" ns1:rel="FUND" ns1:start="2019-04-30T23:00:00Z"/></ns1:links><ns2:identifiers><ns2:identifier ns2:type="RCUK">133834</ns2:identifier></ns2:identifiers><ns2:title>PrEP 24 - Towards a world without HIV</ns2:title><ns2:status>Closed</ns2:status><ns2:grantCategory>Feasibility Studies</ns2:grantCategory><ns2:leadFunder>ISCF</ns2:leadFunder><ns2:abstractText>&amp;quot;HIV was first identified in Los Angeles in 1981 and by 2016 there were over 18 million people worldwide on HIV treatment (antiretroviral medicine, ARVs). There are currently over 100,000 people living with HIV in the UK and in 2017 there were 4363 new diagnoses. The main risk groups for HIV include men who have sex with men (MSM) and people of black African ethnicity.

National health promotion campaigns in the 1980s (&amp;quot;&amp;quot;Don't die of ignorance&amp;quot;&amp;quot;) were seen as successful in contributing to awareness and prevention, however, they could have inadvertently led to some of the stigma around HIV in the UK today. While the development of more effective anti-HIV drugs in the mid-1990s meant that people with HIV could stay healthier for longer, nowadays people taking medication as recommended can expect to live a near-normal lifespan. However the lifetime cost of treatment for an individual HIV patient is over &amp;pound;360,000\.

The introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been a game-changer in HIV prevention. PrEP is the pre-emptive use of HIV drugs taken by HIV negative people at risk of contracting HIV to avoid infection and is a highly effective strategy for HIV prevention, reducing risk of infection by 86% in clinical trials.

This innovative project will assess the feasibility of the first digital 'PrEP safe' service globally. This will allow people at risk of HIV infection to register with the service and provide them with access to the PrEP medication as well as the tools to self-manage through information, support and regular testing for HIV, Hepatitis B/C and kidney function which they need to ensure that they are 'safe with PrEP'.

It is led by SH:24, a community interest company that is spearheading the digital revolution in sexual and reproductive health in partnership with the NHS, and represents an exciting collaboration between public health experts, designers, clinicians, academics and PrEP/HIV community activist groups.&amp;quot;</ns2:abstractText></ns2:project>