Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 17;17(3):e0264808.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264808. eCollection 2022.

Strengthening health system's capacity for pre-exposure prophylaxis for adolescent girls and young women and adolescent boys and young men in South Africa (SHeS'Cap-PrEP): Protocol for a mixed methods study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Edward Nicol  1   2 , Trisha Ramraj  3 , Mbuzeleni Hlongwa  1   4 , Wisdom Basera  1   5 , Ngcwalisa Jama  1   6 , Carl Lombard  7 , Tracy McClinton-Appollis  8 , Darshini Govindasamy  8 , Desiree Pass  1 , Noluntu Funani  1 , Sarah Aheron  9 , Ariana Paredes-Vincent  9 , Jennifer Drummond  9 , Mireille Cheyip  9 , Sibongile Dladla  9 , Jason Bedford  9 , Cathy Mathews  8
Affiliations

Strengthening health system's capacity for pre-exposure prophylaxis for adolescent girls and young women and adolescent boys and young men in South Africa (SHeS'Cap-PrEP): Protocol for a mixed methods study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Edward Nicol et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective prevention intervention that can be used to control HIV incidence especially among people who are at increased risk for HIV such as adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and adolescent boys and young men (ABYM). In South Africa, various approaches of delivering PrEP have been adopted at different service delivery points (facility-based only, school-based only, community-based only and hybrid school-facility and community-facility models) to overcome challenges associated with individual, structural, and health systems related barriers that may hinder access to and uptake of PrEP among these populations. However, little is known about how to optimize PrEP implementation and operational strategies to achieve high sustained uptake of good quality services for AGYW and ABYM. This study aims to identify effective and feasible PrEP models of care for improving PrEP uptake, continuation, and adherence among AGYW and ABYM.

Methods and analysis: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study will be conducted in 22 service delivery points (SDPs) in uMgungundlovu district, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We will recruit 600 HIV negative, sexually active, high risk, AGYW (aged 15-24 years) and ABYM (aged 15-35 years). Enrolled participants will be followed up at 1-, 4- and 7-months to determine continuation and adherence to PrEP. We will conduct two focus group discussions (with 8 participants in each group) across four groups (i. Initiated PrEP within 1 month, ii. Did not initiate PrEP within 1 month, iii. Continued PrEP at 4/7 months and iv. Did not continue PrEP at 4/7 months) and 48 in-depth interviews from each of the four groups (12 per group). Twelve key informant interviews with stakeholders working in HIV programs will also be conducted. Associations between demographic characteristics stratified by PrEP initiation and by various service-delivery models will be assessed using Chi-square/Fishers exact tests or t-test/Mann Whitney test. A general inductive approach will be used to analyze the qualitative data.

Ethics and dissemination: The protocol was approved by the South African Medical Research Council Health Research Ethics Committee (EC051-11/2020). Findings from the study will be communicated to the study population and results will be presented to stakeholders and at appropriate local and international conferences. Outputs will also include a policy brief, peer-reviewed journal articles and research capacity building through research degrees.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: the authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Sub-districts of uMgungundlovu District Municipality within Kwa-Zulu Natal Province.
Source: File:Map of KwaZulu-Natal with municipalities named and districts shaded (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org.
Fig 2
Fig 2. An illustration of the study activities for the SHeS’Cap-PrEP study in uMgungundlovu district, KZN, 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. UNAIDS. People living with HIV receiving ART: AIDSinfo; 2019. [updated 2019. Available from: http://aidsinfo.unaids.org/.
    1. UNAIDS. AIDS by numbers: South Africa 2018 [30 March 2020]. Available from: https://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/southafrica.
    1. Ajayi AI, Mudefi E, Yusuf MS, Adeniyi OV, Rala N, Goon DT. Low awareness and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis among adolescents and young adults in high HIV and sexual violence prevalence settings. Medicine. 2019;98(43):e17716. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000017716 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. UNAIDS. The gap report: the beginning of the end of the epidemic. Geneva, Switzerland.2018.
    1. Gomez A, Malone S, Prasad R, Gangaramany A, Croucamp Y, Mulhausen J, et al.. Understanding HIV prevention in high-risk adolescent girls and young women in two South African provinces. South African Health Review. 2019;15:167–72.

Publication types

Substances