High HIV prevalence, low awareness of and willingness to use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among male migrant workers in Southwestern, China: a short report

ABSTRACT

Little is known about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) awareness and willingness among male rural-to-urban migrant workers, a high-risk population of HIV infection and transmission in China. The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of and willingness to use PrEP among this vulnerable population in two cities in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a province in southwestern China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among male rural-to-urban migrant workers in Guangxi province, during June to August, 2015. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the factors related to PrEP acceptance. Among 669 male rural-to-urban migrant workers surveyed, the HIV prevalence was 1.79%. Among the 657 HIV-negative participants, 23.0% had heard of PrEP, 1.2% had used PrEP, and 64.7% were willing to use PrEP. Being afraid of HIV/AIDS (OR = 2.08, 95%CI: 1.04–4.19) and willing to have an HIV test (OR = 3.74, 95%CI: 1.64–8.52) were associated with willingness to use PrEP. The findings suggest that among male migrant workers in Southwestern China, the awareness of and willingness to use PrEP were relatively low. Given the fact that the HIV prevalence was high among this population, more educational campaigns about PrEP and targeted interventions are necessary for this high-risk population in Guangxi.

KEYWORDS:

• Pre-exposure prophylaxis
• willingness
• HIV
• AIDS
• male rural-to-urban migrant workers

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank staff from Liuzhou and Guigang Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who involved in the participant recruitment for this study.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the National Key Science and Technology Project [grant number 2012ZX10004910], National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant numbers 81560326, 81460511], Guangxi Scientific and Technological Key Project [grant number Gui Ke Gong 14124003-1], Guangxi University “100-Talent” Program & Guangxi university innovation team and outstanding scholars program & Guangxi university innovation team and outstanding scholars program [grant number Gui Jiao Ren 2014[7]].