“I’m happy and terrified by the effective services of SUS”: beginning of PrEP

“Estoy feliz y aterrorizado con la atención eficaz del SUS”: inicio de la PrEP

Objective:  To understand the experiences related to the initiation and maintenance, during the first three months, of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at a Testing and Counseling Center in a capital city in southern Brazil.

Method:  Qualitative research, grounded in the interpretivist perspective. The setting was a Testing and Counseling Center. Twenty-eight individuals who initiated prophylaxis participated in the study. Data were generated between 2023 and 2024 using different techniques: semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and medical record review. Thematic content analysis was adopted.

Results:   Prophylaxis was considered a strategy that enabled the individual management of HIV-related vulnerabilities. However, its effectiveness depends on the organization of healthcare service work processes and on the preparedness of health professionals to qualify access, strengthen therapeutic bonding, and ensure longitudinal care, in order to address multifactorial barriers that affect adherence.

Conclusion:  Discontinuation was not configured as a homogeneous phenomenon and may be linked to organizational barriers, individual decisions, reconfigurations of the vulnerability context, or temporary clinical indications.

Descriptors:
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis; HIV/AIDS; Unified Health System; Qualitative Research