About hope project

HOPE is a global project aiming to reduce HIV transmission in East Asia by optimizing the roll-out, implementation, and real-world effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

To this end, our specific goals are to:

• Generate new knowledge and solutions to optimize the use of PrEP
• Translate research and community insights into accessible forms for PrEP program and policy development

By establishing a network of regional experts from research, communities and policymakers, we will co-design intervention strategies with key populations to improve PrEP care adherence and persistence among key populations. These strategies will be informed by socially innovative methods (e.g., crowdsourcing, discrete choice experiments) and implemented in each country site.

Overall project design

Three steps to achieve our goal of ending HIV transmission in East Asia:

• Building connections with the research community and key populations
• Enhancing capacity building in local sites through cross-sector collaboration, nurturing young investigators, and public sharing of knowledge (Masterclass)
• Changing the HIV prevention landscape by optimizing PrEP implementation

HOPE network activities

Four main components of research activities:

To this end, HOPE adopts a collaborative approach that aims to generate community-driven and cost-effective public health solutions. We will first start by using participatory research methodologies (crowdsourcing open calls and discrete choice experiments) to identify community-driven solutions to optimize PrEP effectiveness in each country site, and then implement and evaluate these solutions through trials.

We bring together regional experts in HIV prevention and key populations that are affected by the HIV epidemic:

• Australian team provides expertise in PrEP implementation, health preference research and economic evaluation.
• Thai team has expertise in key population-led health services (KPLHS). KPLHS ensures client-centered care as services are designed and co-delivered by members of key population communities.
• Philippine team has experience working with key populations to initiate PrEP. Visit the HOPE Philippines website
• The US team have expertise in crowdsourcing; they have been involved in 82 crowdsourcing open calls, including generating PrEP demand in Thailand, improving sexual health in Australia, and improving youth innovation in the Philippines.

Monthly meetings and three-monthly workshops to strengthen our network, keep track of the progress, and enhance the knowledge among young investigators, which they can use to conduct or improve their studies.