- Title
- 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
- Creator
- Grulich, Andrew E.; Guy, Rebecca; Amin, Janaki; Jin, Fengyi; Selvey, Christine; Holden, Jo; Schmidt, Heather-Marie A.; Zablotska, Iryna; Price, Karen; Whittaker, Bill; Chant, Kerry; Cooper, Craig; McGill, Scott; Telfer, Barbara; Yeung, Barbara; Levitt, Gesalit; Ogilvie, Erin E.; Dharan, Nila J.; Hammoud, Mohammed A.Stefanie; Vaccher, Stefanie; Ryder, Nathan
- Relation
- The Lancet HIV Vol. 5, Issue 11, p. e629-e637
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3018(18)30215-7
- Publisher
- Lancet Publishing Group
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- Background: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in men who have sex with men (MSM) at the individual level, but data on population-level impact are lacking. We examined whether rapid, targeted, and high-coverage roll-out of PrEP in an MSM epidemic would reduce HIV incidence in the cohort prescribed PrEP and state-wide in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales. Methods: The Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities–New South Wales (EPIC-NSW) study is an implementation cohort study of daily co-formulated tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine as HIV PrEP. We recruited high-risk gay men in a New South Wales-wide network of 21 clinics. We report protocol-specified co-primary outcomes at 12 months after recruitment of the first 3700 participants: within-cohort HIV incidence; and change in population HIV diagnoses in New South Wales between the 12-month periods before and after PrEP roll-out. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02870790. Findings: We recruited 3700 participants in the 8 months between March 1, 2016, and Oct 31, 2016. 3676 (99%) were men, 3534 (96%) identified as gay, and 149 (4%) as bisexual. Median age was 36 years (IQR 30–45 years). Overall, 3069 (83%) participants attended a visit at 12 months or later. Over 4100 person-years, two men became infected with HIV (incidence 0·048 per 100 person-years, 95% CI 0·012–0·195). Both had been non-adherent to PrEP. HIV diagnoses in MSM in New South Wales declined from 295 in the 12 months before PrEP roll-out to 221 in the 12 months after (relative risk reduction [RRR] 25·1%, 95% CI 10·5–37·4). There was a decline both in recent HIV infections (from 149 to 102, RRR 31·5%, 95% CI 11·3 to 47·3) and in other HIV diagnoses (from 146 to 119, RRR 18·5%, 95% CI −4·5 to 36·6). Interpretation: PrEP implementation was associated with a rapid decline in HIV diagnoses in the state of New South Wales, which was greatest for recent infections. As part of a combination prevention approach, rapid, targeted, high-coverage PrEP implementation is effective to reduce new HIV infections at the population level. Funding: New South Wales Ministry of Health, Gilead Sciences.
- Subject
- HIV; pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); MSM
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1452135
- Identifier
- uon:44371
- Identifier
- ISSN:2405-4704
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
- Hits: 8080
- Visitors: 8058
- Downloads: 1
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format |
|---|