Occupational barriers to accessing and adhering to antiretroviral therapy for female sex workers living with HIV in South Africa.

Objectives: While female sex workers (FSW) are nearly 14 times more likely to be living with HIV than non-FSW, less than 40% of FSW living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy (ART). We sought to understand how the work environment influences ART access and adherence for FSW in preparation for the Siyaphambili trial.

Methods: FSW living with HIV (n=24) and key informants (n=15) were recruited to participate in semistructured in-depth interviews using maximum variation and snowball sampling, respectively.