Integrating PrEP delivery in family planning clinics in Kenya

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R01 · $594,356 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

ABSTRACT Women in HIV high burden settings are a priority population for HIV prevention, because they carry disproportionately high fraction of new HIV infections. A recent large clinical study (ECHO Study) in four African countries found that incident HIV infections were unacceptably high among women desiring contraception– an average of 3.8%. These results have rightly spurred discussions about the need to strengthen integration of HIV prevention and sexual reproductive health services. Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an attractive user- controlled HIV prevention strategy, given its high effectiveness and safety. Integrating HIV prevention services, including PrEP provision into care settings that women trust and access routinely may offer an efficient platform to reach at-risk women for HIV prevention. In a recent pilot study, we demonstrated that it was feasible to integrate PrEP provision in FP clinics with program-dedicated staff. However, that approach also highlighted the need for delivery models that integrate efficiently with existing staff for sustainability. With a multidisciplinary team and drawing from lessons from the pilot work, we propose to catalyze scale up PrEP provision for at-risk women accessing FP clinics in Kisumu, Kenya – a region with an HIV prevalence of up to 28% among young women. We will aim for a sustainable, institutionalized, and cost- and time-efficient PrEP delivery in FP clinics. We hypothesize that FP clinics will provide woman-centered ‘one-stop’ location for PrEP and FP services that could address barriers women face to access HIV prevention services, including lack of time, cost, and stigma of visiting a facility solely for HIV prevention. We will conduct a step-wedged cluster-randomized trial to test a multifaceted implementation strategy in 12 FP clinics (n=3600 women) with the following Aims: In Aim 1, we will deliver PrEP in public health FP clinics in staged fashion, implementing and optimizing HIV prevention service provision with existing FP clinic staffing. We will rigorously evaluate program reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance, and impact using the RE-AIM framework. The multifaceted implementation strategy to integrate PrEP in FP clinics will include: 1) provider training; 2) promotion of HIV testing, partner HIV testing, screening for HIV and STIs risk and offer of PrEP; 3) ongoing technical assistance; 4) Audit and feedback to optimize delivery; 5) work-flow mapping; and 6) streamlined data and PrEP supply systems. In Aim 2, guided by the Organizational Readiness for Implementing Change and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Science Research, we will assess readiness to implement, fidelity, impact on current services, facilitators, and barriers to integration PrEP provision in FP clinic context. In Aim 3, we will assess programmatic cost, budget impact, and affordability of integrating PrEP delivery in FP clinics in Kenya. Costs will be estimated over a...

Key facts

NIH application ID
10152687
Project number
5R01MH123267-02
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Principal Investigator
Kenneth Kiggundu Mugwanya
Activity code
R01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$594,356
Award type
5
Project period
2020-05-01 → 2025-04-30