A qualitative analysis of female sex workers' lived experiences with adherence to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in Zimbabwe.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Female sex workers (FSWs) are at an elevated risk of HIV infection with an eight-fold risk of HIV infection. In countries like Zimbabwe, FSWs have an HIV incidence of around 10.2%. With this elevated risk, the World Health Organization has prioritized Female sex workers (FSWS) for PrEP - an HIV prevention option taken as a daily pill during periods of risk but, FSWs continue to experience challenges with daily PrEP adherence due to daily dosing, related side effects, ARV stigma and low risk perception. This article presents the FSWs' lived experiences with PrEP adherence in Zimbabwe.

Methods

We purposively identified twenty FSWs and conducted individual interviews to understand FSW lived experiences with PrEP adherence. We applied Colaizzi's seven steps of phenome

SUBMITTER: Nhamo D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12410797 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature