Publications by authors named "Lukas Silas"

Article Synopsis
  • Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Namibia face challenges accessing clinic-based HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), leading researchers to evaluate alternative community-based models for service delivery.
  • The study analyzed data from 7593 AGYW aged 15-24, revealing that while a high percentage received PrEP education and HIV testing, only 36.9% initiated PrEP and just 12.4% continued after one month.
  • Key factors influencing PrEP uptake included school dropout and food insecurity, with those delaying PrEP starting showing higher persistence rates, especially those using the community-concierge service model.
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Introduction: Despite the potential for community-based approaches to increase access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), there is limited evidence of whether and how they improve PrEP persistence. We compared PrEP persistence among AGYW receiving services through community and hybrid models in Namibia to facility-based services. We subsequently identify potential mechanisms to explain how and why community and hybrid models achieved (or not) improved persistence to inform further service delivery innovation.

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