| Literature DB >> 30796608 |
Gabrielle O'Malley1, Gena Barnabee2, Kenneth Mugwanya2.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Clinical trials have found that PrEP is highly effective in reducing risk of HIV acquisition across types of exposure, gender, PrEP regimens, and dosing schemes. Evidence is urgently needed to inform scale-up of PrEP to meet the ambitious WHO/UNAIDS prevention target of 3,000,000 individuals on PrEP by 2020. RECENTEntities:
Keywords: Anagogical reasoning; HIV/AIDS; PrEP implementation; Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); Scaling-up; Sub-Saharan Africa
Mesh:
Substances:
Year: 2019 PMID: 30796608 PMCID: PMC6469867 DOI: 10.1007/s11904-019-00437-6
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Curr HIV/AIDS Rep ISSN: 1548-3568 Impact factor: 5.071
Key lessons learned from scaling up ART in SSA and potential applications to the scale-up of PrEP
| Lessons learned from ART delivery scale-up | Application to PrEP delivery scale-up | Additional considerations for PrEP |
|---|---|---|
| Scaled implementation required streamlining and minimizing laboratory tests. Symptom-directed approaches to laboratory monitoring of safety were adopted to reduce burden and costs to health system and clients. | Target population for PrEP are young and healthy with less likelihood of comorbid conditions than those on ART | Current safety and HIV epidemiologic data suggest HIV testing may be the only essential component of minimal lab safety package. Studies are needed to evaluate the safety of HIV testing strategies for PrEP users, including moving follow-up HIV testing from clinical settings to home-based HIV self-testing |
| Task-shifting from doctors to nurses was proven safe and dramatically increased access to ART. | PrEP is much less complicated and better tolerated than ART. Shifting PrEP prescribing authority from NIMART nurses to other health cadres will increase PrEP access. | Nurses working in family planning, maternal child health, anti-natal, and STI clinics are well-placed to provide PrEP alongside other reproductive health services. Models shifting PrEP delivery from nurses to community health workers and pharmacists should be developed, implemented and assessed. |
| Differentiated models of ART service delivery (including non-clinic-based services) have been essential to reducing burden on the health system and increasing access to services for those in need. | Differentiated PrEP service delivery models, (including non-clinic-based services) will be even more important to achieve PrEP delivery at scale as most clients will be healthy and not seeking other clinical services. | Non-clinic-based service delivery models (e.g. pharmacies, community points, tele-health/−medicine, private sector) used elsewhere should be tried in African settings. The education and social sectors should be engaged in demand and awareness creation, identification of potential users. |
| Overly cautious adherence preparation for individual clients created barriers to uptake and a “Test and Start” approach has been adopted. A range of adherence support strategies have been implemented. | Minimize emphasis on ‘willingness to adhere’ as requirements to start and re-start PrEP. Individual and public health concerns for interrupted adherence are importantly different for PrEP compared to ART. | PrEP is not intended for lifelong use but rather periods of risk. Viral mutations from interrupted adherence will be very rare. PrEP delivery requires a shift in thinking around ‘successful’ adherence at the individual and population level compared to adherence in ART delivery. Family planning may offer a more useful frame of reference for thinking about successful PrEP adherence. |
| Lowered age of consent and explicit policies and guidelines were necessary to reduce barriers for adolescent access to ART. | Lowered age of consent and explicit policies and guidelines will be necessary to reduce barriers for adolescent access to PrEP. | Adolescent girls at especially high risk of HIV may also be those for whom parental consent is a significant barrier. Consider explicitly linking lowered age of consent to related services that may be accessed alongside PrEP (e.g., HIV testing, family planning, mental health, ART, post-violence). |
| Stigma has been a barrier to HIV testing and treatment. Campaigns targeting “high risk populations” may have inadvertently contributed to stigmatizing people living with HIV as well as the sexual behavior through which their HIV was acquired. | The same stigma associated with HIV is also a barrier for PrEP uptake and persistence. Reduce emphasis on ‘risk’ and ‘risky’ behaviors in messaging for PrEP. | Shift public health messaging about PrEP from an emphasis on “risky behavior” to sex-positive, empowering language. Invest in strategies to increase community awareness to normalize pill taking for prevention. |