Single Source Procurement: Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Media Campaign

The Department of Health Office of Public Health/Aids Institute has received approval to enter into a single source agreement with Better World Advertising for the initiative discussed below.

On June 29th, 2014, Governor Cuomo announced a three point plan to end the AIDS epidemic in NYS. Expanding access to Pre-exposure prophylaxis (referred to as PrEP) is the third point in the plan. In 2012, the FDA approved the use of antiretroviral medications to prevent the acquisition of HIV infection) but, to date, there has been limited public awareness about this method of prevention and few individuals at risk for HIV infection in New York have taken advantage of it. The AIDS Institute is charged with mounting a targeted campaign to raise awareness about PrEP among those at highest risk for HIV, including: men who have sex with men who engage in high risk sexual behaviors; young gay men from minority communities; people who are serodiscordant couples (where one partner is living with HIV and the other is not); individuals with a history of more than one STD in the past year; and, others at risk for HIV infection.

The AIDS Institute has provided targeted funding to clinical sites to build their capacity to prescribe PrEP. It is especially important to raise awareness of PrEP in order to help recruit appropriate individuals to seek PrEP services at these clinics. Hence, a targeted media campaign is critical for maximizing the impact of the state's investment in preparing these clinical sites to administer PrEP. The DOH requires the assistance of Better World Advertising to develop a targeted media campaign to promote PrEP. The DOH lacks existing in-house capacity to effectively develop media campaigns targeting the specific populations outlined above and lacks knowledge of specific media venues used by the targeted population. A critical component of this work is development of culturally relevant messages and selection and use of media outlets that people in the targeted audience frequent.

Better World Advertising (BWA) was established in 1996 to provide high‐quality, cost effective Advertising services addressing public health topics. BWA does not serve commercial clients but limits their services to government agencies, non‐profit organizations and educational institutions. BWA has grown as an established national leader in social marketing by launching effective public health education campaigns, especially those addressing HIV/AIDS.

Procurement / Program Name Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Media Campaign
Contractor Name(s) Better World Advertising
Contract Period 1/1/14-3/31/15
Contract Number(s) N/A