Suubi4PrEP

Suubi4PrEP (2025-2029)

Suubi4PrEP: Improving PrEP Access and Adherence Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Uganda.

Principal Investigators: Fred M. Ssewamala, PhD; Proscovia Nabunya, PhD; Juliet Iwelunmor, PhD; Noeline Nakasujja, PhD (Makerere University)

Project Team Members: Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD; Derek Brown, PhD; Anita Kabarambi, MBChB; Susan Witte, PhD (Columbia University), Torsten Neilands, PhD (University of California San Francisco)

Implementing partners: Abel Mwebembezi, PhD (Reach the Youth Uganda)

Study Coordinators: Samiri Jamiru

Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Suubi4PrEP is a five-year study (2025-2029) that examines the impact of a multilevel combination intervention focused on PrEP initiation and adherence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) living in HIV hotspots in Uganda. Specifically, the study combines: 1) HIV risk reduction (HIVRR) that incorporates sessions on PrEP, 2) PrEP Peer Supporters with lived experiences taking PrEP to facilitate linkage to and continued care, share strategies to address misconceptions, manage disclosure and stigma, and model positive lifestyles while engaging in care services, and 3) an economic empowerment (EE) component that includes a matched savings account and financial literacy targeting poverty and financial barriers associated with PrEP access. The study will recruit 600 AGYW from 30 sites/HIV hot spots within the greater Masaka region of Uganda. Suubi4PrEP will be delivered over 20 months, with assessments conducted at baseline,12-, 24- and 36-months post-intervention initiation. Study findings may inform multi-level response efforts desperately needed to reduce new HIV infections among AGYW in a way that single interventions alone have not been able to.