Gilead Sciences has unveiled a new HIV prevention campaign called “Up to Date,” targeting Black adults who are sexually active, with a particular focus on women.
The campaign aims to encourage people to know their HIV status and have open, honest conversations about sexual health with partners and healthcare providers.
A central message of the initiative highlights that nearly half of all new HIV diagnoses in women occur among Black women, underscoring a significant public health disparity.
Gilead developed the campaign alongside ad agency Majority, with the partnership designed to bring cultural authenticity to the messaging and creative direction.
Ashley Gildea, Gilead’s VP of marketing for U.S. HIV prevention, outlined the campaign’s core ambition as reaching communities that have historically been underserved by public health messaging.
Gildea said the campaign uses “relatable relationship scenarios that reflect the Black community with authenticity,” signalling a deliberate shift away from clinical or detached health communications.
The push also seeks to inform sexually active Black adults about both oral and injectable PrEP options, expanding awareness beyond the pill-based prevention methods many people already associate with HIV risk reduction.
PrEP treatments have been available for over a decade, yet uptake has remained relatively low across many communities, particularly among Black women who face some of the highest rates of new diagnoses.
According to Gildea, the goal is to encourage people to “know their HIV status, have real conversations about sexual health, and talk to their healthcare provider about the most effective oral and injectable PrEP options.”
The campaign reflects a broader industry trend of pharmaceutical companies investing in culturally specific outreach rather than broad-based public health advertising that can fail to resonate with targeted groups.
For Gilead, the initiative represents both a public health commitment and a commercial interest, as the company remains one of the leading manufacturers of PrEP medications in the United States.
Destigmatising conversations around HIV prevention has long been identified by health advocates as one of the most effective tools for increasing testing rates and encouraging preventative treatment uptake.
By grounding the campaign in everyday relationship scenarios familiar to Black communities, Gilead and Majority are betting that relatability will prove more persuasive than statistics alone in driving behaviour change.