Strengthening health system's capacity for linkage to HIV care for adolescent girls and young women and adolescent boys and young men in South Africa (SheS'Cap-Linkage): Protocol for a mixed methods study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 15-24 years and adolescent boys and young men (ABYM) aged 15-34 years represent one of the populations at highest risk for HIV-infection in South Africa. The National Department of Health adopted the universal test and treat (UTT) strategy in 2016, resulting in increases in same-day antiretroviral therapy initiations and linkage to care. Monitoring progress towards attainment of South Africa's 95-95-95 targets amongst AGYW and ABYM relies on high quality data to identify and address gaps in linkage to care. The aim of this study is to describe the current approaches for engaging AGYW and ABYM in the treatment continuum to generate knowledge that can guide efforts to improve linkage to, and retention in, HIV care among these populations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a mixed methods study, which will be conducted in uMgungundlovu district of KwaZulu-Natal, over a 24-month period, in 22 purposively selected HIV testing and treatment service delivery points (SDPs). For the quantitative component, a sample of 1100 AGYW aged 15-24 years and ABYM aged 15-35 years old will be recruited into the study, in addition to 231 healthcare providers (HCPs) involved in the implementation of the UTT program. The qualitative component will include 30 participating patients who were successfully linked to care, 30 who were not, and 30 who have never tested for HIV. Key informant interviews will also be conducted with 24 HCPs. Logistic regression will be used to model the primary outcomes on SDP types, while a time to event analysis will be conducted using a Cox regression model and adjusting the standard errors of the hazard ratio for the clustering of participants within SDPs. For qualitative data, a general inductive approach of analysis will be used. DISSEMINATION: 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.

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.

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.