Background:

In 2018, Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) became one of the first countries worldwide to publicly fund PrEP for populations at elevated risk of HIV including men who have sex with men (MSM). As of 2023, access to PrEP has substantially increased, and the removal of the prescription co-payment in NZ means the cost of PrEP prescriptions is now $0 (i.e. free).

Despite this, PrEP uptake in NZ is lower than anticipated1 and we have limited data on how many people are using PrEP. Awareness of and willingness to use PrEP amongst MSM in NZ is also unknown, since the last behavioural surveillance round was 2014, prior to PrEP being approved and publicly funded. We sought to understand more about PrEP in NZ using the first behavioural surveillance survey conducted post PrEP in 2022.