Here’s why some people still don’t use PrEP to protect themselves from HIV.
- The number of HIV seropositivity discoveries in 2022 in France is estimated between 4,233 and 5,738.
- Since 2021, the first prescription of PrEP can be delivered in community medicine.
- According to a new study, “compared to users, non-PrEP users are younger, less often urban and less educated. They also have a less privileged financial situation and are less socially connected to the lifestyles of the gay community Finally, they are further away from the healthcare system and the medical offer in sexual health.”
Why is PrEP still underused in France? While access to this treatment has been facilitated for two years in our territory, new research into Public Health France gives some answers.
HIV: who is eligible for Prep ?
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a tool for preventing HIV infection for populations at high risk of exposure, including men who have sex with men (MSM).
Since 2021, the first prescription of PrEP can be delivered in community medicine in addition to free information, screening and diagnosis centers (CeGIDD) or the hospital. “The objective of this article is to describe the profiles of MSM eligible for PrEP (whether or not they use it in the last six months) and to determine the factors associated with its non-use,” explain the authors of the survey.
The data used for this analysis come from the Sex Report (Eras) survey carried out online and anonymously in 2023 among MSM. “We considered respondents with multiple partners who were non-HIV positive and who declared systematic non-use of condoms with occasional partners in the last 6 months during anal penetration to be eligible for PrEP.” specify the researchers.
HIV: why do some people still not use PrEP?
Of the 19,307 respondents reporting being MSM, cisgender, residing in France and not living with HIV, 6,439 (33.4%) met PrEP eligibility criteria. Among the latter, 3,278 (50.9%) had used it in the last 6 months and 3,161 (49.1%) had not used it.
“Compared to users, non-PrEP users were younger, less often urban and less educated. They also had a less privileged financial situation and were less socially connected to the lifestyles of the gay community. Finally, they were more far from the healthcare system and the medical offer in sexual health”we can read in the report.
“Our results highlight the persistence of individual and structural obstacles to the use of PrEP within a population of MSM with sexual behaviors at high risk of exposure to HIV. For the moment, the opening of the first prescription of PrEP in community medicine does not achieve the expected objectives, including the diversification of the socio-demographic characteristics of eligible users. deplore the experts from Public Health France in conclusion.
PrEP: eAround 180,000 people live with HIV in France
The number of discoveries of HIV seropositivity in 2022 in France is estimated between 4,233 and 5,738. “The increase observed between 2020 and 2022 follows the significant decrease in 2020 linked to the Covid-19 epidemic. It is explained by the drop in screening activity, migratory flows and undoubtedly also exposure to HIV linked to social distancing measures”, writes the health agency in its latest report on the subject.
Around 180,000 people live with HIV in France. Worldwide, 85.6 million people have been infected with HIV and 40.4 million have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the epidemic began in the 1980s.
