POWER – December 2017

POWER develops cost-effective and scalable models for implementation of ARV-based HIV prevention products for women.

• Cohorts in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kisumu enroll more than 200 young women.
• My PrEP decision support tool ready to launch; additional demand creation tools in development.
• POWER team meeting convened.

Cohorts in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kisumu enroll more than 200 young women. As of November 2017, 228 young women (ages 16-25) have enrolled in POWER cohorts in all three cities, at a total of four sites. The sites integrate three different health service models: a youth clinic in Johannesburg (WARD 21), a mobile van to reach youth in Cape Town (the Tutu Teen Tester), and a private (KMET) and public (JOOTRH) family planning clinic in Kisumu. Additionally, the team is collecting process evaluation indicators on a weekly and monthly basis and will be creating quarterly briefs that highlight key implementation lessons learned. The first brief will be available in the first quarter of 2018 and shared with other projects rolling out or scaling up oral PrEP.

My PrEP decision support tool ready to launch; additional demand creation tools in development. In collaboration with Drs. Christine Dehlendorf and Nika Seidman of UCSF and Bedsider.org, POWER developed a digital PrEP decision support tool based on the My Birth Control tool. My PrEP has been pre-tested at all three sites in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kisumu, and feedback from providers and young women has been integrated in the final version, which is ready to be integrated into current delivery at each site.

Additionally, a provider/patient flip chart, poster and palm card are currently being developed as companion materials to My PrEP and will offer providers additional resources to help young women assess whether oral PrEP is right from them.

POWER team meeting convened. The full POWER team met in Cape Town, South Africa in September 2017 to review early data, discuss initial challenges and success of delivery, and lay out a plan for ongoing delivery and possible ancillary sub-studies.