“Now that PrEP is reducing the risk of transmission of HIV, why then do you still insist that we use condoms?” the condom quandary among PrEP users and health care providers in Kenya

ABSTRACT

Communication around condom use in the context of PrEP services presents a potential conundrum for patients and providers. Within the Partners Scale-Up Project, which supports integration of PrEP delivery in HIV care clinics, we interviewed 41 providers and 61 PrEP users and identified themes relating to condom messaging and use. Most providers counselled PrEP initiators to always use both PrEP and condoms, except when trying to conceive. However, others reported contexts and rationales for not emphasizing condom use. Providers reported that PrEP users were sometimes confused, even frustrated, with their insistence on using condoms in addition to PrEP. PrEP users generally regarded PrEP as a more feasible and desirable HIV prevention method than condoms, enabling increased sexual pleasure and conception, and reducing the conflict and stigma associated with condom use. Innovative approaches to condom counselling in PrEP programs are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• PrEP scale up
• condoms
• HIV serodiscordant couples
• public HIV care clinics
• health care providers
• Kenya

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the staff in all the participating HIV care clinics. The authors acknowledge the Director, KEMRI for support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Competing interests

The authors declare they have no competing interests

Additional information

Funding

The Partners Scale Up Project is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health of the US National Institutes of Health (R01 MH095507) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1056051).