ICT & HIV prevention: Experiences from a biomedical HIV prevention trial among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Cape Town, South Africa

HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa has been shown to be disproportionately higher than among the general population. Increased vulnerability to HIV among MSM has been associated with structural, social and individual factors. While information and communication technologies (ICT) now commonly mediate the sexual practices of many MSM, little research exists on how to design and deliver effective biomedical and combination HIV prevention interventions targeting MSM that consider the role of ICT in this context. In this paper, we describe the use and impact of ICT for a biomedical HIV prevention trial in South Africa as part of the larger Global iPrEX trial. We outline the research rationale, design and results and examine how SMS, email, social networking sites, and the Internet were used to target MSM. Drawing on our experience, we argue that the low cost and wide usage of various components of ICT among MSM offer significant potential for future targeted HIV prevention efforts.