A new video aiming to raise awareness of the HIV prevention drug PrEP among Mandarin-speaking gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) has been released by Australian HIV organisation ACON and features two of Asia’s most popular gay social media stars.
Fufu and Josh, otherwise known on social media as ‘FJ234’, who boast over 350,000 subscribers on YouTube, appear in the video alongside a leading LGBT doctor and sexual health expert in the region, Dr Stephane Wen-Wei Ku, who has been actively involved in rolling out PrEP in Asia.
The video shows Fufu and Josh sitting on a bed with Dr Ku in the middle as he explains how PrEp works and where you can get it for use in Australia.
The campaign video has been produced in partnership between ACON and sexual health organisation Hotline, based in Taiwan. It focuses on the foundational aspects of PrEP by addressing frequently asked questions about the drug, and uses answers based on the experiences of Mandarin-speaking gay, bisexual and queer men in Australia.
As opposed to translating existing messages, the content was developed in language with the community in Taiwan, the messaging is authentic to Mandarin-speaking men.
ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill said that the campaign will play a crucial role in helping to raise awareness of the highly effective HIV prevention drug among Mandarin-speaking gay communities in NSW.
“Raising awareness of PrEP, which is an extremely effective strategy for preventing HIV transmission, is fundamental to our efforts in eliminating the virus in NSW,” Parkhill said.
“As we continue to observe declines in HIV transmissions, unfortunately, we are still not seeing similar declines among gay men born overseas, particularly those from Mandarin-speaking Asian backgrounds.
“We know that men in our communities from Mandarin-speaking Asian backgrounds continue to encounter barriers to appropriate HIV prevention messaging, such as language and culture. This means that we must continue to employ new strategies and initiatives to engage Mandarin-speaking Asian gay men about HIV prevention, including increasing awareness of one of the most effective HIV prevention methods we have available – PrEP.”
PrEP has had an enormous impact on the rates of HIV transmission in NSW and Australia since it was first made available in 2016 through various state-based trials, and later in 2018 when it was listed on the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
“In Asian cultures, many people are afraid of negotiating sex because they don’t want to feel embarrassed. PrEP is a good tool to protect yourself even if you are not ready to talk about sex with your sex partner. We could all have a great sex life without worrying about HIV,” Josh and Fufu said.
“Collaboration is key to improving awareness of PrEP, and we are extremely grateful to Fufu, Josh, Dr Ku and Hotline for taking part in our campaign,” Parkhill added.
“By working with them we hope the video will be able to help educate Mandarin-speaking communities about a range of questions relating to PrEP, such as how effective it is, how easy it is to get, and different ways that PrEP can be taken.”
The video is available in Traditional and Simplified Mandarin, with English subtitles.
See the video below in your gay nation.
Last Updated on Jun 10, 2021
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