Awareness of long-acting injectable HIV prevention remains low among Ugandan female university students

Only 13 percent of adolescent girls and young women studying at Makerere University in Uganda were aware of long-acting injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis, a form of HIV prevention that was recently added to the country’s national PrEP guidelines, according to a cross-sectional study published in AIDS Research and Therapy. The finding suggests that a prevention option now formally recommended for key populations has not yet reached many of the young women it is intended to protect.

The study, led by Janerose Nabugo Namyalo and colleagues, surveyed female university students considered at high risk of HIV exposure. Beyond the low awareness rate, the researchers found that only 14 percent of participants demonstrated adequate knowledge of the injectable prevention method. The researchers measured awareness and knowledge as separate outcomes: awareness of LAI-PrEP was low at 13 percent, while only 14 percent of participants demonstrated adequate knowledge.

Willingness to use the product was considerably higher than awareness. Forty percent of respondents said they would be willing to use long-acting injectable PrEP if it were freely available. That gap between interest and information is central to the authors’ concern. The authors state that limited awareness and knowledge may hinder uptake of LAI-PrEP.

The researchers also examined which characteristics were associated with awareness and knowledge. Awareness of the injectable option was statistically associated with living in on-campus residence, with a reported p value of 0.016, and with transactional sex, with a reported p value of 0.009.

Adequate knowledge followed a different pattern. It was associated with a higher year of study, and all of these associations reached statistical significance at p values below 0.05.

The associations they report, such as the links between awareness and on-campus residence or transactional sex, describe relationships within this sample and do not establish that one factor causes the other. The findings are specific to adolescent girls and young women at Makerere University and may not generalise to other institutions or to young women outside university settings.

Nevertheless, the authors argue that the low levels they measured could hinder uptake of the injectable option. They call for targeted campus-based education and for integration of information about long-acting injectable PrEP into existing HIV services. The authors argue that limited awareness and knowledge may hinder uptake of LAI-PrEP, and they call for targeted campus-based education and integration into existing HIV services.

Subject of Research: Awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among high-risk female university students in Uganda

Article Title: Brief communication: awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among high-risk female university students in Uganda

Article References: Namyalo, J. N., Nampeera, F., Kuteesa, J. W. S., Ndagire, R., Balikuna, S., & Segawa, I. (2026). Brief communication: awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among high-risk female university students in Uganda. AIDS Research and Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12981-026-00958-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12981-026-00958-2

Keywords: HIV prevention, long-acting injectable PrEP, Uganda, Makerere University, adolescent girls and young women, cross-sectional study, PrEP guidelines, campus health education, transactional sex, willingness to use, Brief, communication