Community-based, Village Health Worker-led, eHealth-supported, Integrated HIV Prevention for People at Substantial Risk of HIV Acquisition in Rural Lesotho: Protocol for a Cluster-randomized Hybrid Type 1 effectiveness-implementation Trial Within the ComBaCaL Cohort Study

Approximately 1.3 million new HIV infections were reported worldwide in 2024. Eastern and Southern Africa continue to bear the largest share of the HIV-related burden. To prevent lingering epidemics in these low-resource, high-prevalence regions, it is essential to intensify HIV prevention efforts, including the scale-up of effective biomedical HIV prevention, such as Pre-Exposure (PrEP) and Post- Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). However, uptake, persistent use and adherence to biomedical HIV prevention remains low among individuals at substantial risk of HIV acquisition, especially in rural areas. Thus, there is an urgent need for scalable, integrated, cost-effective, and context-specific service delivery models that increase the utilization of biomedical HIV prevention among populations at increased risk in Southern Africa.

This cluster-randomized intervention is embedded in the ComBaCaL (Community-Based Chronic disease care Lesotho) cohort study (EKNZ ID AO_2022-00058, clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT05596773, Lesotho NH-REC ID 210-2022), a platform for the investigation of chronic diseases and their management in rural Lesotho that is maintained by local lay chronic care village health workers (CC-VHWs).

The ComBaCaL HIV Preven7on (CoPrev) model is a differen7ated, community-based preven7on model, that provides eligible individuals with an alterna7ve to facility-based HIV preven7on and contracep7on. It builds on the broader ComBaCaL model of care, which extends the role of VHWs beyond educa7on, counselling, screening, and referral, to include ac7ve management of preven7on and care services for selected condi7ons. This is enabled through a tablet-based CDS applica7on, allowing VHWs to independently prescribe and deliver selected medica7ons at community level.

Within the CoPrev model, VHWs, assisted by the CDS application, deliver an integrated HIV prevention package comprising HIV prevention education and counselling; HIV and HIV risk screening; condom provision; referral to health facilities, and the prescription and delivery of PEP (TDF/3TC/DTG) and oral PrEP (TDF/3TC) to those eligible. In addition, VHWs provide contraceptive services, including family planning education and counselling; pregnancy screening; referral to health facilities; and the delivery of refills of combined oral contraception (COC) and self-injectable contraception to those eligible.