1. Barriers to Oral PrEP: A Qualitative Study of Female Sex Workers, PrEP Prescribers, Policymakers, and Community Advocates in Morocco.
- Author
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Moussa AB, Badahdah AM, Hidous K, Barakad R, Diallo F, Traoré M, Khodabocus N, Ebsen Treebhoobun A, Delabre R, Rojas Castro D, Ouarsas L, and Karkouri M
- Subjects
- Humans, Morocco, Female, Adult, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Social Stigma, Anti-HIV Agents therapeutic use, Anti-HIV Agents administration & dosage, Health Services Accessibility statistics & numerical data, Male, Young Adult, Middle Aged, Administration, Oral, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis statistics & numerical data, Sex Workers statistics & numerical data, Sex Workers psychology, Qualitative Research, HIV Infections prevention & control
- Abstract
In 2017, Morocco became the first Arab country to incorporate pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in its HIV-prevention program. Yet no research has been published on PrEP from Morocco. Although female sex workers are one of the target populations of PrEP in Morocco, their enrollment in PrEP is lower than men who have sex with men. In this study, we conducted 38 semi-structured interviews with female sex workers, physicians who prescribe PrEP, policymakers, and community advocates to identify problems associated with access to and use of PrEP. We also investigated preferences for daily oral, vaginal ring, and long-acting injectable PrEP. A reflexive thematic analysis revealed seven themes: PrEP stigma; stigmatization and criminalization of sex work; one size doesn't fit all; knowledge and misconceptions about PrEP; economic burden; inconvenience of PrEP pills; and preferred PrEP modalities. This paper discusses the implications of the findings for increasing access and use of PrEP in Morocco., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
- Published
- 2024
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