Community Inclusion in PrEP Demonstration Projects: Lessons for Scaling Up

Sushena Reza-Paul; Lisa Lazarus; Smarajit Jana; Protim Ray; Nelly Mugo; Kenneth Ngure; Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan; Florita Durueke; John Idoko; Luc Béhanzin; Michel Alary; Daouda Gueye; Moussa Sarr; Wanjiru Mukoma; Jordan K Kyongo; Rutendo Bothma; Robyn Eakle; Gina Dallabetta; Josie Presley; Robert Lorway

doi:10.12688/gatesopenres.13042.2

Community Inclusion in PrEP Demonstration Projects: Lessons for Scaling Up

Gates Open Res. 2019 Jul 5:3:1504. doi: 10.12688/gatesopenres.13042.2. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Sushena Reza-Paul^#^{1

2}, Lisa Lazarus^#¹, Smarajit Jana³, Protim Ray³, Nelly Mugo^{4

5}, Kenneth Ngure⁶, Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan⁷, Florita Durueke⁸, John Idoko⁹, Luc Béhanzin^{10

11

12}, Michel Alary^{10

13

14}, Daouda Gueye¹⁵, Moussa Sarr¹⁶, Wanjiru Mukoma¹⁷, Jordan K Kyongo¹⁷, Rutendo Bothma¹⁸, Robyn Eakle^{18

19}, Gina Dallabetta²⁰, Josie Presley²¹, Robert Lorway¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Global Public Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
² Ashodaya Samithi, Mysore, India.
³ Durbar Mahila Samanawaya Committee, Kolkata, India.
⁴ Center for Clinical Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵ Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
⁶ Department of Community Health, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁷ Department of Child Dental Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
⁸ New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁹ Department of Medicine, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.
¹⁰ Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada.
¹¹ Dispensaire IST, Centre de santé communal de Cotonou 1, Cotonou, Benin.
¹² École Nationale de Formation des Techniciens Supérieurs en Santé Publique et en Surveillance Épidémiologique, Université de Parakou, Parakou, Benin.
¹³ Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁴ Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Quebec, Canada.
¹⁵ Institut de Recherche en Santé, de Surveillance Epidémiologique et de Formation (IRESSEF), Dakar, Senegal.
¹⁶ Westat, Inc, Rockville, USA.
¹⁷ LVCT Health, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁸ Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (WRHI), Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁹ Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
²⁰ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington, USA.
²¹ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has emerged as a new HIV prevention strategy. A series of demonstration projects were conducted to explore the use of PrEP outside of clinical trial settings. Learning from the failures in community consultation and involvement in early oral tenofovir trials, these PrEP projects attempted to better engage communities and create spaces for community involvement in the planning and roll out of these projects. We briefly describe the community engagement strategies employed by seven Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded PrEP demonstration projects and the lessons these projects offer for community engagement in PrEP implementation.

Keywords: HIV; demonstration projects; pre-exposure prophylaxis; prevention; serodiscordant couples; sex work.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (University of Manitoba: OPP1108606; University of Washington Foundation: OPP1056051, National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS: OPP1104917, Wits Health Consortium: OPP1084416, CHU de Quebec: OPP1098973, Reseau Africain de Recherche sur le SIDA: OPP1084414, LVCT Health: OPP1104919).