Investigating the feasibility of providing injectable PrEP for HIV Prevention in Flanders

BACKGROUND
In countries such as Belgium, the yearly number of HIV diagnoses is
decreasing. The decrease can be partially attributed to oral PrEP, which
is being rolled out in Belgium. Long-acting injectable PrEP (LAI-PrEP) is
not yet available and is recently demonstrated to have a 66% higher
efficacy than oral PrEP. With LAI-PrEP, HIV negative individuals are
injected with Cabotegravir every 8 weeks to protect them against HIV
infection. It has the potential to further accelerate the decreasing
number of HIV diagnoses, if targeted to those who currently have at
highest risk for HIV (e.g. male sex workers). However, more scientific
evidence is needed to translate this novel tool into an effective realworld application.
AIM
To investigate the feasibility, safety and acceptability of LAI-PrEP for HIV
prevention in Flanders.
PROJECT APPROACH
FORMATIVE phase: In work packages (WPs) 1 and 2, we will investigate
which populations can benefit most from LAI-PrEP, how they can be
reached and how LAI-PrEP provision can be tailored to their needs.
WP1: Triangulation of available datasets from various studies to
determine who could benefit most from LAI-PrEP.
WP2: Systematic literature review and Discrete Choice Experiment
(n=350) to study potential uptake of LAI-PrEP.
PILOT STUDY phase: insights from formative phase will be used to set up
a clinical study to investigate the effectiveness, safety, acceptability and
feasibility of LAI-PrEP.
WP3: Demonstration study with LAI-PrEP among +/-100 male and
transgender women who will be followed up for at least 2 years,
including one-year phase after the injections. They will be followed up in
the PrEP clinic of ITM and/or via community-based organisations.
WP4: Interview study among providers (n=25) and multiple case study
design to investigate barriers and facilitators for LAI-PrEP provision.