Barriers to Effective Uptake of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PREP) by Pregnant Human Immune Virus (HIV) Negative Women at Tertiary Teaching Hospital in Zimbabwe

Objectives: Explore knowledge of HIV negative pregnant women on PrEP at a tertiary teaching hospital in Zimbabwe. Establish barriers to uptake of PrEP by HIV negative pregnant women at a tertiary teaching hospital in Zimbabwe. Design: Qualitative study design Methods: Interviews and audio recordings were conducted on 12 HIV negative pregnant women who were purposively sampled and met the inclusion criteria in order to explore their knowledge on PrEP as well establish barriers to effective uptake of PrEP. Qualitative study was conducted between January and June 2024. The audio recordings were transcribed first in the local languages and then translated into English. Thematic Content Analysis was employed to analyse data. Themes were extracted from responses. Setting: Study was conducted at a tertiary teaching hospital maternity centre in Zimbabwe. Subjects: Twelve HIV negative pregnant women who came to the hospital for antenatal care and were willing to participate in the study. Results: Majority, 58% (n=7) respondents had knowledge about PrEP, lacked in-depth understanding of mode of action, efficacy and side effects of PrEP. Lack of knowledge , stigma and misconceptions, healthcare provider barriers, access barriers, pregnancy-related concerns, partner dynamics, prioritization of other health concerns, limited support and resources, negative perception, packaging barriers, fear of being labelled and low perception of risk to acquiring HIV were some of the barriers to uptake of PrEP identified. All the respondents lowly perceived PrEP as an effective strategy for reducing incidence of HIV particularly how ARV’s which are not a cure for HIV can then be used to prevent infection in the HIV negative. Conclusion: Study highlights significant gaps in knowledge about PrEP among the respondents. Pregnant women should be given adequate knowledge about PrEP if Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 is to be attained by 2030. Recommendations: Enhancing knowledge about PrEP would assist in addressing the multifaceted barriers thereby improving the perception of PrEP which ultimately improves its uptake.