Sandra I. McCoy: leveraging elements of games to improve sexual health

HIV is one of world’s most serious public health challenges. In the US alone, there are more than 1.1 million people living with this deadly disease, and 1 out of 7 of these people are not aware of their infection. Approximately 39,800 people were diagnosed with HIV in the US in 2016. Gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men bear a disproportionate burden by risk group (1). mHealth interventions have thus arisen with an aim to improve people’s engagement in desirable sexual health services and behaviors like HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and linkage to antiretroviral therapy (ART).