Provision of Preexposure Prophylaxis at the Portuguese National Health Service and Uptake in the Lisbon Cohort of Men Who Have Sex with Men

Autores da FMUP

• José Henrique Dias Pinto De Barros

  Autor

Participantes de fora da FMUP

• Meireles, P
• Fernandes, F
• Rocha, M
• Plankey, M

Unidades de investigação

• Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses, e Educação Médica

Abstract

We aimed to study the uptake of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) before and after its implementation in the Portuguese National Health Service (PNHS) among men who have sex with men (MSM). We studied 6164 participants in the Lisbon Cohort of MSM who participated between March 2014 and July 2019. 198 participants (3.2%) reported having recently used PrEP. Approximately one-third started PrEP after its implementation. PrEP uptake increased from 0.15% in 2014 to 5.36% in 2019. In their first use, 86 participants (70.5%) used it daily. How PrEP was obtained varied according to the timing of the first use: prescribed by a physician in Portugal (11.1% before vs 68.8% after implementation) and online (40.7% before vs 14.1% after). We observed an increase in the uptake and in the prescription by a physician, particularly after its implementation in the PNHS representing a change to a more equitable and safer way of using PrEP.

Keywords

• HIV; Preexposure prophylaxis; Men who have sex with men; Implementation