Background: In Benin, men who have sex with men (MSM) do not always use condoms during anal sex. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) using Truvada® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate / emtricitabine) may be a complementary HIV prevention measure for MSM. This study aimed at identifying the potential facilitators and barriers to the use of PrEP. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2018 among male-born MSM aged 18 years or older who reported being HIV-negative or unaware of their HIV status. The participants were recruited by the RDS technique (respondent driven sampling) in six cities of Benin. Logistic regression analyses, adapted to RDS statistical requirements, were performed to identify the factors associated with PrEP acceptability. Results: Mean age of the 400 MSM recruited was 26.2 ± 5.0 years. PrEP was known by 50.7% of respondents. The intention to use PrEP was expressed by 90% of MSM. If PrEP effectiveness were 90% or more, 87.8% of the respondents thought they would decrease condom use. In multivariate analysis, the facilitators associated with PrEP acceptability were: not having to pay for PrEP (odds ratio (OR) = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.50-4.46) and its accessibility within MSM networks (OR = 9.82, 95% CI: 3.50-27.52). Only one barrier was significant: the concern that taking PrEP be perceived as marker of adopting HIV risky behaviors (OR = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.04-0.30). Conclusion: In Benin, not all MSM know about PrEP. But once well informed, the majority seems willing to use it if made available. The free availability of the drug and its accessibility in the MSM networks are important facilitators. The possibility of decrease in condom use should not be a barrier to the prescription of PrEP if made available.
This article proposes to address the research conditions by underlying the question of male homosexuality in Senegal and to show how researcher deals with social and cultural realities in the context of "anthropology at home". It is also a discussing of medical ethics more specifically the consent in social sciences according to my research and my target population. All the data come from my ethnographic work carried out between 2009 and 2013 in Senegal as part of my doctorate thesis in medical anthropology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.