Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 16:41:136.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2022.41.136.32881. eCollection 2022.

Gender norms, HIV risk, and attitudes towards pre-exposure prophylaxis and other HIV preventive interventions among South African adolescents

Israel Agaku  1 , Lungile Nkosi  2 , Joy Gwar  3 , Tina Tsafa  4
Affiliations

Gender norms, HIV risk, and attitudes towards pre-exposure prophylaxis and other HIV preventive interventions among South African adolescents

Israel Agaku et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Introduction: we examined HIV-related social norms and perceptions among South African adolescents aged 15-18 years and evaluated their openness to using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce HIV risk.

Methods: we analyzed cross-sectional data of 4,567 adolescents aged 15-18 years from the "fifth South African National HIV prevalence, HIV incidence, behaviour and communication survey (2017/2018)". Outcomes of interest in our study were HIV-related social norms and awareness of HIV prevention methods, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Results: our results showed that compared to their female counterparts, a significantly higher percentage of male adolescents endorsed the statement "Men can have two or more sexual partners at the same time" (14.2% vs 10.1%, p=0.021). Condoms were the most popular method of HIV prevention, with 83.5% of all participants reporting awareness. Yet, 35.4% of those sexually active in the past year reported not using condoms all the time. Perceived parental sex education and exposure to community campaigns for HIV prevention were both associated with increased awareness of HIV prevention measures and openness to PrEP. Unaided recall of PrEP was very low (3.7%), but most of those who were HIV seronegative (69.3%) were open to using it after learning about it. Openness towards PrEP was significantly higher among those reporting vs not reporting past-year sexual activity (adjusted prevalence ratio (APR=1.16, 95%CI, 1.06-1.28), and binge-drinking (APR=1.24, 95%CI, 1.08-1.41).

Conclusion: this study showed that while many South African adolescents were interested in trying PrEP, initial awareness was low. Ensuring barrier-free access to evidence-based preventive strategies may benefit public health.

Keywords: HIV; PrEP; adolescents; condom; prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
social norms and perceptions at the intersection of gender and sexual intimacy among South African adolescents aged 15-18 years, 2017/2018
Figure 2
Figure 2
factors associated with perceived HIV risk among seronegative youth aged 15-18 years in South Africa, 2017/2018 (n = 2,896)
Figure 3
Figure 3
factors associated with HIV seropositivity among all surveyed adolescents aged 15-18 years, South Africa, 2017/2018 (n = 4,567)
Figure 4
Figure 4
reported methods for HIV prevention based on unaided and aided recall among South African adolescents aged 15-18 years, 2017/2018
Figure 5
Figure 5
factors associated with openness to using PrEP among seronegative adolescents aged 15-18 years, South Africa, 2017/2018
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Our World in Data New HIV infections averted from prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) 1990 to 2016. 2019.
    1. Max R, Richie H. HIV/AIDS. Our World Data. 2019.
    1. Our World in Data Number of children newly infected with HIV, 1990 to 2019. Accessed December 19 2021.
    1. Harrison A, Smit J, Hoffman S, Nzama T, Leu CS, Mantell J, et al. Gender, peer and partner influences on adolescent HIV risk in rural South Africa. Sex Health. 2011 May;9(2):178–86. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shamu S, Khupakonke S, Farirai T, Slabbert J, Chidarikire T, Guloba G, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of young adults towards HIV prevention: an analysis of baseline data from a community-based HIV prevention intervention study in two high HIV burden districts, South Africa. BMC Public Health. 2020 Aug 17;20(1):1249. - PMC - PubMed