Willingness to pay for HIV pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis services delivered via an online pharmacy in Kenya

TL;DR

This study explores how much people in Nairobi, Kenya are willing to pay for HIV prevention services delivered through online pharmacies.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into willingness to pay for online PrEP/PEP services in Kenya.

Findings

Most participants were willing to pay for online PrEP services, with potential users willing to pay 1388 KSH and current users 1271.2 KSH.

Higher income and prior online pharmacy purchases were associated with higher willingness to pay for both PrEP and PEP.

Providing PrEP/PEP through online pharmacies may help sustainably expand HIV prevention services.

Abstract

HIV pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP) provision via online pharmacies could expand reach of HIV prevention in Eastern and Southern Africa, but designing sustainable delivery models will require assessing the amount potential users are willing to pay for online PrEP/PEP provision.

We administered willingness to pay (WTP) questionnaires to both potential online PrEP users and current online PrEP/PEP users in Nairobi, Kenya using a stated preference approach to measure the amount participants were willing to pay for PrEP/PEP service delivery components. Participants ≥ 18 years were recruited via banner ads on an online pharmacy website on pages displaying sexual health products. We used multivariable gamma regression models to assess characteristics associated with differences in mean WTP for a 30-day PrEP or 28-day PEP course (including HIV self-testing, remote clinical consultation, drugs, and delivery fees).

From May 2022 and December 2023, 1,512 participants completed WTP questionnaires: 772 potential online PrEP users and 740 current online PrEP/PEP users. Most participants (98.3%, 1486/1,512) were willing to pay some amount for online PrEP services. For a one-month PrEP supply, potential online PrEP users were willing to pay 1388 KSH ($11.77 USD) and current online PrEP/PEP users were willing to pay 1271.2 KSH ($10.77 USD) on average. Most current online PrEP/PEP users (81.4%, 602/740) were also willing to pay for online PEP services; for a 28-day PEP supply, they were willing to pay 812.9 KSH ($6.89 USD) on average. Among potential online PrEP users, male sex, current enrollment in school, high income, and a history of online pharmacy purchases were associated with higher WTP for PrEP. Among current online PrEP/PEP users, higher income and prior online pharmacy purchases were associated with higher WTP for PrEP, and older age (> 24) and prior online pharmacy purchases were associated with higher WTP for PEP.

Most potential and current online PrEP/PEP users in Nairobi were willing to pay for online pharmacy-based PrEP/PEP and demonstrated similar WTP. Providing PrEP/PEP through online pharmacies may sustainably expand coverage of these HIV prevention services.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-025-12766-x.