TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake concerns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
T2 - Key population and healthcare workers perspectives
AU - Shen, Yanhan
AU - Franks, Julie
AU - Reidy, William
AU - Olsen, Halli
AU - Wang, Chunhui
AU - Mushimbele, Nadine
AU - Mazala, Richted Tenda
AU - Tchissambou, Tania
AU - Malele, Faustin
AU - Kilundu, Apolinaire
AU - Bingham, Trista
AU - Djomand, Gaston
AU - Mukinda, Elie
AU - Ewetola, Raimi
AU - Abrams, Elaine J.
AU - Teasdale, Chloe A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2023 Shen et al. This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - Key populations (KP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including female sex workers (SW), are disproportionally affected by HIV. Quantitative feedback surveys were conducted at seven health facilities in DRC with 70 KP clients enrolled in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services to measure benefits and concerns. The surveys also assessed satisfaction with PrEP services and experiences of stigma at the health facilities. Thirty healthcare workers (HCW) were surveyed to measure attitudes, beliefs, and acceptability of providing services to KP. KP client survey participants were primarily female SW. KP clients reported that the primary concern about taking PrEP was fear of side effects (67%) although few KP reported having experienced side effect (14%). HCW concurred with clients that experienced and anticipated side effects were a primary PrEP uptake concern, along with costs of clinic visits.
AB - Key populations (KP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including female sex workers (SW), are disproportionally affected by HIV. Quantitative feedback surveys were conducted at seven health facilities in DRC with 70 KP clients enrolled in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services to measure benefits and concerns. The surveys also assessed satisfaction with PrEP services and experiences of stigma at the health facilities. Thirty healthcare workers (HCW) were surveyed to measure attitudes, beliefs, and acceptability of providing services to KP. KP client survey participants were primarily female SW. KP clients reported that the primary concern about taking PrEP was fear of side effects (67%) although few KP reported having experienced side effect (14%). HCW concurred with clients that experienced and anticipated side effects were a primary PrEP uptake concern, along with costs of clinic visits.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0280977
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0280977
M3 - Article
C2 - 37917646
AN - SCOPUS:85175819872
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 11 NOVEMBER
M1 - e0280977
ER -
