Phase 2 is in full swing by PrEP advocates after the NHS were bullied into providing a trial for 10,000 participants who were incapable or unwilling to wear a condom. You would think they would be satisfied but unless an unlimited “roll out” of PrEP on the NHS is implemented, it will never be enough to “end HIV”. The PrEPaganda will be ceaseless as they claim “demand” will outstrip places on the trial.
It’s a fact that condoms prevent HIV transmission, are effective and cheap with zero side effects and the vast majority of gay men use them. Barebacking is a tiny minority “sport” by very troubled gay men who are self harming, usually with chemsex, as they feel their lives are worthless.
They will eventually become HIV positive if they are not already so. PrEP will not “save them”. Many Prepsters are HIV positive and have lived this life, believing they could have been “saved” if only PrEP was available on the NHS.
Yet there can only be a limited number of chemsex barebacking enthusiasts in the UK until you hit a brick wall and no one wants PrEP as it’s seen as a sign of a depraved reckless irresponsible lifestyle of a seedy underworld. Who wants to be branded as part of that! Here’s where the Prepster comes in with the magic buzzword “stigma”.
They want to destigmatise barebacking, hypernormalise it and grow “demand” for PrEP as they don’t want their behaviour to be branded “abnormal” or be “judged” or “slut shamed”. Bingo! more gay men wanting PrEP.
It’s going to be an uphill struggle for the Prepsters as they continue to claim barebackers are “hard to reach” in the gay community. It’s not that they don’t know of PrEP, they simply don’t care. If you “destigmatise” PrEP all you do is make responsible gay men swap from condoms to PrEP as barebacking is normalised. The troubled gays will be missed entirely. The result will be more disease spreading of other STIs and drug resistant HIV.