Public Health England (PHE) has announced the projects which have been awarded funding from the HIV Prevention Innovation Fund for 2017/18. The projects have been chosen from across England to receive total funding of £600,000 from the Department of Health through PHE.
PHE received over 70 submissions from different organisations for funding for local HIV prevention initiatives. Projects that provided innovation were welcome, especially those that addressed the following issues:
- acknowledging and addressing the wider determinants of high risk behaviour
- promoting the prompt diagnosis of both HIV and other STIs, especially among MSM
- addressing stigma associated with HIV
- integrating HIV prevention into health promotion and service delivery in other health areas
- supporting increased knowledge, awareness and understanding including of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, especially in currently underserved populations
Two examples of local initiatives receiving funding from PHE are the Sex Talk project run by National Prison Radio which will create information designed for prisoners to address issues of stigma around HIV and the Sholay Love project run by NAZ which aims to raise awareness of HIV and STIs and encourage testing amongst south Asian gay men in London, Bradford and Leeds.
Simon Walker, Health Improvement manager and sexual health lead for PHE West Midlands, said: “It’s great news that we have received funding for two projects within the West Midlands region. In Wolverhampton the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has received funding for Reducing Barriers to Testing, a pilot project to test the effectiveness, acceptability and uptake of online self-testing (ST) as a method to reduce barriers to HIV testing in Black African communities.
“The Morning After Project (MAP), run by Summit House Support in Dudley, is a Black Country project focusing on education and harm reduction in the practice of chemsex – the use of drugs before or during sex to sustain, enhance, disinhibit or facilitiate the experience. Chemsex is a growing trend and the drugs commonly involved are crystal methamphetamine, GHB/GBL and mephedrone; these can be highly addictive and people often start using recreationally, thinking they can remain in control, but this can escalate and have an adverse impact on health and wellbeing.”
Summit House Support Managing Director Katy Baker said: “Summit House Support is delighted to be selected to deliver the Morning After Project through the HIV Innovation fund. We see participation in Chemsex as a real and emerging need effecting groups of men across the Black Country. We hope to address some of the main risks, specifically around contracting HIV, through a unique approach which targets both men at risk and raising the awareness and skills of local front line practitioners.”
Commenting on the Innovation Fund and the winning projects, Public Health Minister Steve Brine said: “Now in its third year the HIV Prevention Fund continues to foster local innovation projects, which aim to tackle HIV in more targeted and impactful ways, especially for those most at risk. The twelve projects announced today will boost local action and spread best practice to further reduce rates of HIV across the whole country.”
Professor John Newton, Director of Health Improvement, Public Health England said: “The HIV Innovation Fund continues to foster new approaches to HIV prevention. The twelve projects receiving funding have been chosen as they offer new and exciting ways to address key issues in HIV prevention, working particularly with groups at high risk. These projects will help share innovation and best practice around the country, helping other areas to replicate progress in London on lowering rates of HIV.”
