Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities in NSW

Summary

A new NSW Ministry of Health HIV Strategy released on 1 December 2015 aims for the virtual elimination of HIV transmission in NSW by 2020. Critical to the new strategy's success is the population-based, targeted roll-out of HIV PrEP. PrEP involves taking one pill daily of co-formulated tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/ emtricitabine (FTC). This large-scale study aims for the rapid roll-out of TDF/FTC to individuals at high risk of HIV, who will comprise mostly gay and bisexual men (GBM) but will also include small numbers of heterosexuals, injecting drug users, and transgender men and women. The drug will be used according to existing NSW Ministry of Health Guidelines. By rapidly rolling out this new intervention over a 12 month period, and following participants for two years on treatments, a reduction of about 50% in new HIV diagnoses in NSW is expected. The study aims to assess the incidence of HIV among PrEP study participants and measure the population-level impact of the rapid roll-out of PrEP on HIV diagnoses among GBM in NSW over a two-year period. It will also evaluate the rate of PrEP uptake among high risk GBM in NSW, assess the incidence of STI (gonorrhoea, chlamydia and infectious syphilis) among people prescribed PrEP and measure the effect of the rapid roll-out of PrEP on the overall number of notifications of gonorrhoea, chlamydia and infectious syphilis in NSW, describe patterns of PrEP use and medication adherence, and monitor behavioural risk practices among PrEP users. The main population group will be more than 3700 gay men at high risk of HIV infection. All procedures of this study are guided by the NSW Guidelines on PrEP. Protocol Co-Chairs Professor David Cooper, Professor Andrew Grulich. Project Manager: Barbara Yeung

Timeline

Start

2016-03

Primary completion

2019-03

Completion

2020-10

Publications

• Amin J, Vaccher S, Templeton DJ, Bavinton B, Jin F, Zablotska I, Matthews G, Ogilvie E, Yeung B, Ooi C, Dharan N, Baker DA, Read P, Guy R, Grulich AE. Low Prior Exposure and Incidence of Hepatitis C in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Negative Gay and Bisexual Men Taking Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): Findings From the Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities-New South Wales Prospective Implementation Study. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Oct 29;75(9):1497-1502. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac231.
• Grulich AE, Jin F, Bavinton BR, Yeung B, Hammoud MA, Amin J, Cabrera G, Clackett S, Ogilvie E, Vaccher S, Vickers T, McNulty A, Smith DJ, Dharan NJ, Selvey C, Power C, Price K, Zablotska I, Baker DA, Bloch M, Brown K, Carmody CJ, Carr A, Chanisheff D, Doong N, Finlayson R, Lewis DA, Lusk J, Martin S, Ooi C, Read P, Ryder N, Smith D, Tuck Meng Soo C, Templeton DJ, Vlahakis E, Guy R; Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities New South Wales (EPIC-NSW) research group. Long-term protection from HIV infection with oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in gay and bisexual men: findings from the expanded and extended EPIC-NSW prospective implementation study. Lancet HIV. 2021 Aug;8(8):e486-e494. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3018(21)00074-6. Epub 2021 Jul 1.
• Grulich AE, Guy R, Amin J, Jin F, Selvey C, Holden J, Schmidt HA, Zablotska I, Price K, Whittaker B, Chant K, Cooper C, McGill S, Telfer B, Yeung B, Levitt G, Ogilvie EE, Dharan NJ, Hammoud MA, Vaccher S, Watchirs-Smith L, McNulty A, Smith DJ, Allen DM, Baker D, Bloch M, Bopage RI, Brown K, Carr A, Carmody CJ, Collins KL, Finlayson R, Foster R, Jackson EY, Lewis DA, Lusk J, O'Connor CC, Ryder N, Vlahakis E, Read P, Cooper DA; Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities New South Wales (EPIC-NSW) research group. Population-level effectiveness of rapid, targeted, high-coverage roll-out of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in men who have sex with men: the EPIC-NSW prospective cohort study. Lancet HIV. 2018 Nov;5(11):e629-e637. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3018(18)30215-7. Epub 2018 Oct 17.
• Zablotska IB, Selvey C, Guy R, Price K, Holden J, Schmidt HM, McNulty A, Smith D, Jin F, Amin J, Cooper DA, Grulich AE; EPIC-NSW study group. Expanded HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation in communities in New South Wales, Australia (EPIC-NSW): design of an open label, single arm implementation trial. BMC Public Health. 2018 Feb 2;18(1):210. doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-5018-9.

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Indications