World Health Organization Develops Mobile App for PrEP Guidelines

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a mobile app that makes their 2015 pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) guidelines accessible at any time.

The HIV Oral PrEP Implementation Tool, designed for prescribers, counselors, pharmacists, and PrEP users, contains valuable information about the proper use of PrEP from screening, counseling, prescribing, and follow-up.¹

The app takes the authoritative, evidence-based 2015 WHO PrEP guidelines and adapts them for mobile devices. The app is divided into modules based on provider type:¹

Clinical

This module seeks to provide an overview of relevant information for clinicians, including physicians, nurses, and clinical officers, who are providing PrEP in clinical settings.¹

Pharmacists

This module provides information on the medicines used in PrEP, including the optimal storage conditions, and gives suggestions for how pharmacists and pharmacy staff can monitor PrEP adherence and support users to take their medication safely.

Regulatory Officials

This module is for national authorities in charge of authorizing the manufacturing, importation, marketing and/or control of antiretroviral therapy (ART) used for HIV prevention.

PrEP Users

This module provides information for individuals who are interested in taking PrEP to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV and who are already taking PrEP to support them in their choice and use of the medication.

HIV has claimed more than 32 million lives, and there were approximately 37.9 million people living with HIV at the end of 2018. As a result of concerted international efforts to respond to HIV, coverage of services has been steadily increasing. In 2018, 62% of adults of 54% of children living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries were receiving lifelong ART.³

The US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends offering PrEP with effective ART therapy to persons at high risk of HIV acquisition. The USPSTF notes that the key to eliminating HIV is for primary care providers to prescribe PrEP, adding that most infectious disease physicians will not see those at risk, whereas primary care providers could play a critical role in expanding PrEP use.⁴

The mobile app follows the launch of a campaign by the US Department of Health and Human Services called Ready, Set, PrEP, which is aimed at providing PrEP for patients without prescription drug insurance coverage. Ready, Set, PrEP is a part of the Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America initiative, which aims to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the United States by 75% in 5 years and by 90% in 10 years.

The app is available in multiple languages and can serve as a singular resource for those interested in learning how to screen, counsel, prescribe, and follow-up PrEP HIV prevention.

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Reference

• WHO Implementation Tool for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis of HIV Infection. WHO website. https://www.who.int/hiv/pub/prep/prep-implementation-tool/en/. Accessed January 9, 2020.
• Maurer, Douglas. WHO HIV Oral PrEP App. IMedicalApps website. Published January 10, 2020. https://www.imedicalapps.com/2020/01/who-hiv-oral-prep-app/. Accessed January 10, 2020.
• HIV/AIDS Key Facts. WHO website. Published November 15, 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hiv-aids. Accessed January 10, 2020.
• US Preventative Service Task Force. Preexposure Prophylaxis for the Prevention of HIV Infection. JAMA. 2019;321(22):2203-2213. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.6390. Accessed January 10, 2020.