Online PhD conferral mr. Mart van Dijk

Key words: HIV prevention, sexual behaviour, PrEP, risk perception

"PrEP use among men who have sex with men in the Netherlands: Interest, attitudes, and behaviors in a context of emerging PrEP availability"

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a novel biomedical intervention that is highly effective in reducing HIV infections. PrEP is taken as a daily pill or in an on-demand regimen at times when a high risk of HIV is expected. Despite the high effectiveness of PrEP, the uptake of PrEP has been limited in the past years, because PrEP was limited accessible and expensive.  This PhD project investigated how men who have sex with men (MSM) obtained PrEP in the years before PrEP became available (and affordable) in pharmacies in the Netherlands in 2017. Furthermore, this research investigated hurdles for PrEP use in the Netherlands and the sexual behaviour of PrEP users after PrEP initiation.

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