BACKGROUND

Preventing HIV infections among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is crucial for curtailing the epidemic. Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective prevention method increasingly available to this age group in sub-Saharan Africa but population-based data on awareness and use of PrEP among AYAs remains limited.

METHODS

Analyzing survey data from 2 rounds of the Rakai Community Cohort Study, an open, population-based cohort, we estimated prevalence ratios associating various sociodemographic characteristics with PrEP awareness and ever-use among 15- to 24-year-olds in south-central Uganda between 2018 and 2023.

RESULTS

Most (62.4%, N = 3308/5301) participants were aware of PrEP as an HIV prevention method but only 1.7% (N = 133/7999) of AYAs had ever used it. Among the 35.5% (N = 2838/7999) of participants meeting PrEP eligibility criteria, ever-use was similarly rare (2.6%, N = 75/2838). Compared with 20 to 24-year-olds, 15 to 19-year-olds were less likely to report awareness [fullyadjPR (prevalence ratio) = 0.82, 95%CI (confidence interval): 0.78, 0.86] or ever-use (fullyadjPR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.21, 0.58). Participants from fishing communities were more likely to be PrEP-aware (fullyadjPR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.16, 1.29) or have ever used the prevention method (fullyadjPR = 6.07, 95%CI: 4.10, 8.98) than those from non-fishing communities.

CONCLUSIONS

In this cross-sectional study of AYAs in Uganda, awareness of PrEP was common but ever-use was rare, even among the third of respondents who were likely PrEP-eligible. This suggests that prevention policies and barriers besides unawareness of the method impede PrEP initiation. Efforts that target those barriers, particularly for adolescents, are critical for reducing HIV incidence among this priority population.