Access to health services and HIV prevention measures among men who have sex with men: a study with Brazilian immigrants in Portugal

• Grant number: 24/07787-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Public Health
• Principal Investigator: Edson Zangiacomi Martinez
• Grantee: Guilherme Galdino
• Supervisor: Ines Santos Estevinho Fronteira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Escola Nacional De Saúde Pública, Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/05727-8 - Blood donation practice by men who have sex with men and perceptions of accessibility in blood banks after the flexibilization of deferral policies in Brazil, BP.MS

Abstract

Introduction: With the onset of the AIDS pandemic in the United States in the early1980s, a public health challenge emerged that focused on identifying the aetiologicalcause and, consequently, a treatment for the symptoms experienced by people infectedwith the HIV virus. Today, four decades later, public and collective health are still facedwith the challenge of trying to reduce the incidence of HIV infection, especially in morevulnerable populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM). In Brazil, it is knownthat the number of HIV infections will increase by 17.2% between 2020 and 2022. InPortugal, however, the number of new cases of HIV infection fell by 44% between 2020and 2021. It is also known that important strategies to reduce new infections includeaccess to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and access to health services in general.Given the waves of migration of Brazilians to Portugal, it is important to study their accessto health services and HIV prevention measures, as this research could lead to newdiscussions on the determinants that hinder or facilitate the reduction of new infections.Objectives: With this study, we aim to understand the experiences of Brazilian MSMimmigrants in Portugal regarding their perceptions of accessibility and access to healthservices, and to explore access and continuity in the PrEP protocol. As a secondaryobjective, we hope that these data will allow for further research with differentmethodologies that can generate new data on the topic. Methods: This is a qualitativestudy that will consider the population of Brazilian MSM immigrants in Portugal. Samplingwill be intentional and will consist of 15 participants. Data will be collected through asemi-structured interview in three blocks, the first of which will focus on thecharacterisation of the sample, the second on the participants' experiences with healthservices in both Brazil and Portugal, and the third on the access or lack of access toPrEP in Portugal. The study will be carried out in five stages: a) collection of quantitativedata through the candidate's Master's research aimed at understanding access to healthservices in Brazil by MSM; b) selection of participants for the research and initial contactwith them; c) application of semi-structured face-to-face interviews; d) transcription ofinterviews and separation of content; and e) separation of content into themes anddiscussion. The data obtained will be interpreted using the thematic analysis method withthe assistance of the Iramuteq software.