An implementation model for scaling up oral pre-exposure prophylaxis in Kenya: Jilinde project

Oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an efficacious way to lower the risk of HIV acquisition among high-risk individuals. Despite the World Health Organization’s 2015 recommendation that all persons at substantial risk of HIV infection be provided with access to oral PrEP, the rollout has been slow in many low- and middle-income countries. Initiatives for national rollout are few, and subtle skepticism persists in several countries about the feasibility of national PrEP implementation. We describe the conceptual design of the Jilinde project, which is implementing oral PrEP as a routine service at a public health scale in Kenya. We describe the overlapping domains of supply, demand, and government and community ownership, which combine to produce a learning laboratory environment to explore the scale-up of PrEP. We describe how Jilinde approaches PrEP uptake and continuation by applying supply and demand principles and ensures that government and community ownership informs policy, coordination, and sustainability. We describe the “learning laboratory” approach that informs strategic and continuous learning, which allows for adjustments to the project. Jilinde’s conceptual model illustrates how the coalescence of these concepts can promote scale-up of PrEP in real-world conditions and offers critical lessons on an implementation model for scaling up oral PrEP in low- and middle-income countries.