Key Populations are disproportionately affected and impacted by HIV/AIDS in all regions. Unfortunately, reaching Key Populations (KPs) with HIV intervention is a big challenge because of stigma, discrimination, deliberate government legislation against KPs, violence, and criminalization of KPs lifestyles. Because of the lack of KP specific interventions, data on KPs Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) outcomes is lacking. The study investigated Predictors of Adherence to HAART among Key Populations living with HIV/AIDS in Akwa Ibom State, South-South, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using non-probability sampling technique.  Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and ANOVA. There were 330 study sample. The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents showed that a total of 173 (52.42%) of the respondent were female while 157 (47.58%) were male. A total of 103 (31.21%), 106(3.12) and 62 (18.79) were within the age range of (18-30), (31-40) and (41-above) respectively. The mean age of participants was 28.39 years ± (with a range of 18-71). The overall self-reported adherence to HAART reported in this study was 71.9 %. Suboptimal adherence to HAART (≤ 95 %) was 74.5% among FSW, 71.8% among MSM, and 69.4 % among PWID.  The study reveals that the primary reasons for continuous uptake of HAART services from health facilities included availability of drugs, counselling support, availability of Case Managers, proximity to health facilities confidentiality, reduced waiting time and attitude of service providers. Perceived barriers to adherence most frequently reported by respondents were forgetting to take the medication, the volume of pills to be taken, side effects of the medication (nausea & vomiting) fear of stigma and religious beliefs were statistically significant (p=0.05). A well-coordinated care and follow up mechanism is required to achieve HAART adherence among the key populations. Therefore, intensifying health education and promotion alongside rescinding policies against of KPs would improve HAART adherence that will reduce further transmission of HIV and facilitate remarkable progress in achieving viral suppression.

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Edet, John Etim

Department of Public Health, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences University of Calabar, Calabar