London’s innovative HIV prevention campaign, Do It London, has launched a new winter phase, drawing attention to the sharp rises in sexually transmitted infections in the capital in recent years. The campaign, which spans advertising across the transport network, print press, social media, radio and digital display, encourages Londoners to wrap up this winter by ‘doing it with a condom’.
Do It London is the campaigning arm of the London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP). This unique partnership of all 32 boroughs and the City of London is led on their behalf by Lambeth Council.
Following the success of the summer 2016 HIV testing campaign, today’s campaign responds to recent official statistics (released by Public Health England) revealing that STI diagnoses in the capital, including HIV, have risen sharply over the last five years.
All STIs rose by 91 per cent in Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) between 2011 and 2015. Syphilis increased by 128 per cent and gonorrhoea rose 210 per cent. Of the top 20 local authorities in England with the highest rates of new STI diagnoses, 18 were in London.
Efforts to reverse these trends are a priority for local councils, who are responsible for commissioning sexual health services, given the spread of resistance to frontline antibiotics and the reduction of effective treatment options.
Despite the rise of many STIs in the capital, recent statistics from Public Health England showed the number of people in London living with undiagnosed HIV decreased from 5,000 in 2014 to 4,420 in 2015. This indicates progress for the LHPP which, until today’s launch, focused on the promotion of testing to reduce late and undiagnosed HIV infection.
Independent evaluation of the most recent summer 2016 Do It London campaign (“You can do it too”) also revealed a positive impact on the sexual health of Londoners. Over two thirds of respondents who’d seen the campaign (68 per cent) said it had positively influenced their HIV testing behaviour. Furthermore, two thirds of respondents who’d seen the campaign (66 percent) said it had positively influenced their sexual behaviour and attitude towards condom use.
Paul Steinberg, Lead Commissioner of the LHPP said: “Today’s new campaign is rooted in the evidence of ongoing rises in sexually transmitted infections in London since the start of the decade. The London HIV Prevention Programme has made strong progress, since 2015, in promoting HIV testing and safer sex but there is still more to do to prevent onward transmission of all STIs. This new campaign reminds Londoners that consistent and correct use of condoms, alongside regular testing, can significantly reduce the risk of infection.”
• For more info, head to doitlondon.org
