Gender-Specific Combination HIV Prevention: Baseline Results from the MP3 Youth Pilot Study

Background: Female and male youth (ages 15-24) in sub-Saharan Africa are disproportionately at risk of contracting HIV compared to adults. The MP3 Youth pilot study in Kenya delivers a combination HIV prevention package of evidence-based, gender-specific primary prevention interventions in mobile-health settings. We report baseline results.   

Methods:  The MP3 Youth package includes effective combination HIV prevention interventions for female and male youth, identified through focus groups, systematic review, and modeling. All youth: HIV Counseling and Testing, condoms and facilitated linkage to care for HIV+; For males: medical male circumcision (MMC); For females: contraception/family planning, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV negative out-of-school females, and conditional cash transfer (CCT) for those in-school. The study evaluates coverage, uptake, intervention acceptability, and feasibility.

Results: In the first four of ten planned mobile health events, we enrolled 294 participants; 57% female, mean age 19 years. Eighty-four percent reported sexual activity; 15 years was the mean age of coitarche (range: 5-22yrs). Twenty of 30 HIV infections were new diagnoses (F=23; M=7). Thirty-percent were eligible for ART initiation and facilitated referrals were completed. All were enrolled in a longitudinal SMS-cohort. MMC uptake was low. Only 3 of 26 eligible males chose MMC. To date, approximately 46% of females participants may be eligible for CCT and 9% may be eligible for PrEP.

Conclusion:  Mobile events are an acceptable/feasible strategy for offering combination HIV prevention interventions to male and female youth. Mobile integrated HIV services can effectively identify previously undiagnosed HIV positive youth and link them to care.