Abstract: Objective To understand the awareness and attitude of HIV service providers towards pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and explore its influencing factors which may provide suggestions for next steps. Methods From May to September 2022, HIV service providers in 16 prefectural cities (cities) in Yunnan Province were surveyed with self-administered online questionnaire to collect their demographic characteristics, knowledge related to PrEP, and attitudes towards PrEP. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relevant factors affecting the survey subjects' attitudes towards PrEP. Results Among 542 HIV service providers, the awareness rate of PrEP knowledge was 91.5% (496/542) and 93.9% (509/542) supported PrEP strategy. Lack of knowledge (42.4%), fear of side effects (33.3%), and difficulty in follow-up (27.3%) were the main reasons for not supporting PrEP. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that knowledge of PrEP (OR=55.38) were the promoting factors supporting PrEP strategy. Further analysis found that knowing the role of PrEP (OR=4.71), the effective protection rate of PrEP (OR=4.22), and the need to use condoms when taking PrEP (OR=14.02) promoted supportive attitudes towards the PrEP strategy. Conclusions Although HIV service providers have a high awareness of PrEP knowledge, they do not fully grasp the relevant knowledge such as effectiveness of PrEP and measures of PrEP. Most HIV service providers support the PrEP strategy, but some barriers remain. Training should continue to be strengthened, emphasizing the role of social organizations, and optimizing the PrEP process to facilitate the implementation of PrEP.

Key words: HIV service providers, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, Awareness, Attitude