PrEP demonstration projects: a framework for country level protocol development

Overview

Countries considering undertaking PrEP demonstration project research face many challenges and decisions, and this document is an attempt to clarify and if possible simplify them. The document is not meant to be proscriptive. If countries identify a nationally or locally relevant issue not covered here, they are encouraged to include it in their PrEP research. This document is meant to be a ‘living document’. As the thinking and knowledge progresses, and as new specific tools are developed for use in these demonstration projects, new updates will be produced.

The demonstration projects are aimed to serve two purposes: 1) enable countries to learn enough about implementation issues related to PrEP so that the transition between research, including demonstration project research, and the wider expansion and institutionalization that is entailed in scaling up implementation is more feasible; and 2) enable WHO to extract generalizable information for the eventual development of guidelines for PrEP delivery more generally.