Solthis Therapeutic Solidarity and Initiatives for Health

NIGERFighting HIV / AIDSInfectious and emerging diseases

Context:

In Niger, despite concentrated prevalence among key populations, HIV testing coverage remains low among these key populations (sex workers – SW: 6.46%; men who have sex with men – MSM: 11.22%). In 2019, the Global Fund (GF) HIV grant implementation report indicates that only 33% of MSM have taken an HIV test and know the result and 13% of SW. This situation is due to the priority given to conventional screening (voluntary screening, screening at the initiative of the health provider), with the differentiated screening strategy (community screening) only having been adopted very recently (National standards and guidelines for HIV testing, CDIS, 2021). In addition, Niger has no national guidelines for administering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to key populations, particularly MSM, even though PrEP is widely recommended by the WHO to prevent HIV transmission in key populations. As part of the national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Ministry of Public Health has obtained a USD 20 million HIV/AIDS-HSSR grant from the GF for the period 2024-2026, in particular to contribute to HIV prevention and screening objectives in Niger. Two pilot projects to test HIV self-testing and PrEP among key populations were set up between 2022 and 2023 with additional C19RM funding from the GF, with technical support from Solthis as part of the Initiative’s funding. In 2024, Solthis was asked to continue this support in a third phase, the aim of which is now to continue supporting these two structures in order to extend the support for running pilot projects by expanding it geographically into the Zinder region for PrEP, and over time to consolidate the capacity to implement the two innovations and bring them to scale.

General objective:

To support SongES and MVS in the development of PrEP and ADVIH pilot projects and to strengthen their capacity to implement, monitor, evaluate and capitalise on these pilot projects.

Specific objective:

To support SongES and MVS in continuing to run and scale up the pilot projects.

Expected results:

R1: The PrEP and ADVIH pilot projects in Niamey and Zinder are monitored and evaluated.

R2: Strategic and operational recommendations for scaling up the PrEP and ADVIH pilot projects are shared and discussed with institutional partners and associations.

Methodology:

Stage 1: Kick-off meeting and scoping note

Stage 2: Development of the 2024/2025 operational plans for the PrEP and ADVIH pilot projects

Stage 3: Support the monitoring of the pilot projects and the introduction of PrEP in the Zinder region

Stage 4: Evaluate the pilot phase of the ADVIH and PrEP projects

Stage 5: Support for the effective scaling up of ADVIH and PrEP