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
. 2026 Jan 25;16(1):6184.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-36329-0.

Interest in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis use and associated factors among people who inject drugs in Iran: a nationwide survey in 2023

Hossein Moameri  1   2 , Soheil Mehmandoost  2 , Fatemeh Tavakoli  2 , Maliheh Sadat Bazrafshani  2 , Naser Nasiri  2   3 , Hossein Mirzaei  2 , Nasrin Sadidi  2 , Mehrdad Khezri  2   4 , Ali Akbar Haghdoost  2 , Ali Mirzazadeh  5 , Willi McFarland  5 , Mahkameh Rafiee  2 , Mohammad Karamouzian  6   7 , Hamid Sharifi  8   9   10
Affiliations

Interest in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis use and associated factors among people who inject drugs in Iran: a nationwide survey in 2023

Hossein Moameri et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Despite the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in reducing HIV incidence, this intervention is inaccessible in Iran. We examined the interest in using PrEP and associated factors among people who inject drugs (PWID) in 2023 using data from 2,174 PWID. The main outcome was interest in using PrEP, which was divided into three categories: interest in using PrEP under any circumstances, interest in using PrEP if provided for free, and no interest in using PrEP. We found that 37.9% of PWID were interested in using PrEP under any circumstances, 48.3% were interested in using PrEP if provided for free, and 13.8% were not interested in using PrEP. Additionally, only 7.7% of participants reported prior awareness of PrEP. Having high school or more education (adjusted relative risk ratios [ARRR]: 1.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42, 2.61), having access to opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in the last six months (ARRR: 1.59; 1.13, 2.25), and having sufficient HIV knowledge (ARRR: 2.87; 2.03, 4.06) were positively associated with interest in using PrEP under any circumstances. Similarly, having high school or more education (ARRR: 1.50; 1.10, 2.04), having access to OAT in the last six months (ARRR: 2.63; 1.88, 3.67), and having sufficient HIV knowledge (ARRR: 4.53; 3.23, 6.37) were associated with interest in using PrEP if provided for free. Health insurance was negatively associated with interest in using PrEP under any circumstances (ARRR: 0.64; 0.47, 0.87) and with interest in using PrEP if provided for free (ARRR: 0.33; 0.23, 0.45). The findings show a strong potential for PrEP acceptance, indicating that addressing financial and logistical barriers to free PrEP access could greatly reduce HIV incidence among PWID in Iran.

Keywords: HIV infection Iran; Harm reduction; People who inject drugs; Pre-exposure prophylaxis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval: The Ethics committee of Kerman University of Medical Sciences approved the study protocol (Ethics code: IR.KMU.REC.1401.443).

References

    1. Roberts, D. A., Bridenbecker, D., Haberer, J. E., Barnabas, R. V. & Akullian, A. The impact of prevention-effective PrEP use on HIV incidence: a mathematical modelling study. J. Int. AIDS Soc.25(11), e26034 (2022). - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tassi, M-F. et al. PrEP monitoring and HIV incidence after PrEP initiation in france: 2016–18 nationwide cohort study. J. Antimicrob. Chemother.76(11), 3002–3008 (2021). - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhao, A. et al. Pharmacy-based interventions to increase use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in the united states: a scoping review. AIDS Behav. 1–16 (2022). - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO. Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection: Recommendations for a Public Health Approach (World Health Organization, 2016). - PubMed
    1. Algarin, A. B. & Shrader, C. H. Advancing PrEP for HIV prevention: innovations and the imperative to preserve comprehensive care. BMC Glob Public. Health. 3(1), 9 (2025). - DOI - PMC - PubMed