RESEARCH INSTITUTE

HIV Prevention Among Migrant Women in France

Project Title: HIV Prevention Among Migrant Women in France
PI: Jessica Ridgway
Award Type: 2-Year IIRP-Based
Department: Medicine
Division/School: Biological Sciences
Start Year: 2025
Description:

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which consists of taking a daily pill of antiviral medication, is highly effective in preventing HIV. Despite accounting for 22% of new HIV infections in France, migrant women only represent 2.5% of the 40,000 people who initiated PrEP in the country, indicating a substantial inequity in PrEP use. Investigators at the University of Chicago and Paris Cité University have established a partnership to address the multilevel complexity of HIV prevention and address the gap in PrEP use among migrant women. Our team will conduct focus groups and surveys among migrant women and providers to develop tailored implementation strategies aiming to address the specific challenges of PrEP uptake in migrant women attending family planning centers (FPCs). We will engage relevant stakeholders to help define the content of these interventions, which may include educational and training videos and other resources. This work will involve various French and U.S.-based organizations and will be supported by partnerships between institutions and annual travel, as well as regular workshops and meetings organized at the IIRP. This collaborative process will result in a larger grant application to evaluate and scale up our implementation strategies in select French FPCs.