More than 39 million people are living with HIV or Aids and there were close to 1,3 million new infections globally in 2023. Africa has 25,6 million people living with HIV and 8,45 million are in South Africa, mostly women. The difference in prevalence is attributed to the low utilisation of HIV healthcare services by men which includes late testing and delayed starting of treatment. This study wanted to identify factors contributing to this low utilisation of healthcare among men and assess men’s knowledge of current strategies that are implemented to improve their healthcare utilisation.

This qualitative study comprised in-depth interviews with participants from three subdistricts in Ekurhuleni. Different from many men’s studies, this study also wanted the opinions of women who are HIV positive, on antiretroviral treatment and living with male partners who either do not know their status or are known positive and who are not on treatment.

Multiple factors were identified as contributing to low HIV healthcare utilisation among men. Some of the factors differed according to the period of treatment. Work was the main factor for missing clinic visits in men who were on treatment for more than six months while fear of knowing their status was key in those below six months on treatment. It was also identified that there is a huge knowledge gap in male strategies.

Recommendations include providing health literacy, taking health services to men in the workplace, creating an awareness platform for employees and expanding the Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD).