Florian Vock, Deputy Director of Swiss AIDS Federation

Since the first prevention campaigns in Switzerland in the 1990s, gay men have spread a message that countered the climate of fear: no moralistic blame, but autonomy, care and proud sexuality.

The latest editions of the Dr Gay campaigns are part of this long tradition. Following an increase in the number of MSM who discovered they were living with HIV in the early 2000s, AIDS-Hilfe Schweiz launched its first HIV testing campaigns in 2012.

What always frustrates us a little is that we know that implementing effective strategies to prevent HIV transmission is closely linked to the overall health of individuals and communities. We also know that exposure to HIV is closely linked to psychosocial challenges and that MSM are particularly at risk. Acceptance of protection strategies and regular testing also depends on these factors.

The big challenge is that almost nothing lends itself to a campaign, especially the complexity of mental health. Campaigns are expensive and difficult to implement.

‘Use a condom!’ is a simple and effective campaign message. But how do you address mental health?

We have significantly scaled back our ambitions and focused on real-life situations. Our campaigns are not aimed at educating professionals. The public we want to reach cannot learn everything about mental health from a campaign. There are more effective ways to do that. Nobody has the time to deal with complex issues.

But people trust us and are willing to follow specific advice for real situations. We offer what is feasible.

What we must never forget is that the people we want to reach are so diverse that it is impossible to reach them all at the same time with the same message.

We have identified three groups that we can reach with our campaigns – these are archetypes, of course, as all people fall somewhere in between. And then there are numerous people who cannot be reached with traditional communication campaigns, such as non-identical MSM.

1. Gay men for whom sexuality is a central part of their lives. They like to talk about sex, have sex frequently and are receptive to erotic or sexualised content. They want individual solutions.
2. Queer people who have a general interest in all existential questions. They have a moral approach to issues and are not very receptive to nudity or references to gay sexual culture. They no longer want to view sexual health solely through the prism of HIV but want to consider a broader range of issues that do not only affect gay men.
3. 3. People who are committed to the community. They see HIV as a shared challenge. – They want campaigns that also emphasise solidarity. (They also read more than three keywords on their own initiative.)

It is impossible to address all three groups in a single campaign. Otherwise, the campaign would lose its impact. A campaign must be bold and cross boundaries. You always have to go one step further.

The key to campaigns is that they are not about you, they are not about educating or lecturing people. Nor are they about what experts think the perfect world would look like. We need campaigns with very specific goals that are aimed at real people and linked to realistic calls to action.