I Kissed A Boy’s Dan Harry stars in HIV documentary following vaccine trial
I Kissed a Boy contestant Dan Harry has lent his voice to a BBC documentary HIV, PrEP & Me, to help end new cases of the virus by 2030.
Harry announced on his Instagram page last June that he had volunteered to take part in a “ground-breaking” HIV vaccine trial, during which he would be exposed to a genetically engineered version of the infection. He completed the trial and the documentary aired on Tuesday (21 May).
Harry is seen in the programme asking if a drug could be the answer to ending new cases of HIV across the UK. Former health secretary Matt Hancock committed to ending new HIV transmissions by 2030, and a government update in June 2023 noted that since 2019, HIV transmissions in England had fallen by almost a third.
Harry told PinkNews that over the course of a year he was given three doses of the trial vaccine, and his tests are now starting to show as inconclusive, meaning that there are antibodies in his blood – a good sign.
“The next step would be testing it on a much wider group of people,” said the reality TV star, who met “amazing” and “inspiring people” who have been open about their experiences of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV, during filming.
But “most people have no idea what it is,” he said, referring to PrEP.
“What I’ve learned is there’s a big barrier of knowledge and for us to hit the goal of no new cases of HIV by 2030, set by the UN and our government, there needs to be more uptake in PrEP.
“People need to know more about HIV and PrEP and understand that just because you’re not a gay or bi man [does not mean] you’re not at risk. You could be.”
