Paradoxes of PrEP for HIV Prevention
By Morten Skovdal
Published
Feb 17, 2025Page count
176 pagesISBN
978-1447375364Dimensions
203 x 127 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Feb 17, 2025Page count
176 pagesISBN
978-1447372516Dimensions
203 x 127 mmImprint
Policy PressAvailable open access digitally under CC-BY licence.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a drug taken by HIV-negative people that reduces the risk of getting HIV. Comparing two case studies in Denmark and Zimbabwe, this book demonstrates six paradoxes that users often encounter in navigating their PrEP journey. The paradoxes lead to contentions, uncertainties, dilemmas and ambiguities that need to be carefully and pensively responded to through what the author terms ‘everyday PrEP negotiations’.
The social nature and need for such everyday PrEP negotiations help explain why PrEP works for some people and not for others. This book argues that such insight is critical to make PrEP work for more people and to inform social public health responses.
“Skovdal provides a compelling examination of the ‘paradoxes of PrEP’, highlighting that PrEP is a culturally contingent intervention that necessitates in-depth examination to ensure it reaches its full potential.” Maurice Nagington, University of Manchester
“Skovdal reveals the intricate dynamics between people and the HIV prevention pill, focusing on the paradox of being both healthy and a patient. Essential reading for anyone in global health and HIV prevention.” Judith D. Auerbach, University of California San Francisco
Morten Skovdal is Professor of Participatory Health Research at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Preface
1. PrEP fpr HIV prevention
2. The case studies
3. Free, yet costly
4. Eligible, yet ineligible
5. Responsible, yet irresponsible
6. Healthy, yet a patient
7. Safe, yet unsafe
8. Liberating, yet constraining
9. PrEP paradoxes: problematic, yet productive?