Employing economic principles and sound market research has long been used by the private sector to maximize efficiency, product...
Employing economic principles and sound market research has long been used by the private sector to maximize efficiency, product uptake, and cost effectiveness. In global HIV/AIDS prevention new approaches borrowed from the private sector are being combined with recent scientific advances that together could lead to the end of the epidemic.
Antiretroviral therapy, which until recently was thought to only be effective for persons already diagnosed with the HIV virus, has now been proven effective in preventing new infections. The strategy is called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP. For PrEP to be effective, people at higher risk for HIV infection have to be willing to use it. In his recent article published in PlosOne, Bush Institute's Global Health Fellow Ambassador Mark Dybul demonstrates how market research can be utilized to assess the high level of acceptability of PrEP among key populations. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0028238 This post written by Global Health Fellow, Mark Dybul, with intro by Director of Global Health, Eric G. Bing.
