Implementing PrEP Choice: Experiences from South Africa

Mateo Prochazka Núñez is a technical officer for HIV prevention with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mateo studied medicine in Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, where he developed a passion for infectious diseases and health inequalities. He is an epidemiologist and social scientist trained at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Washington.

Mateo has over a decade of experience in infectious disease control, spanning from HIV and other STIs to tuberculosis, NTDs, and emerging infectious diseases. During COVID-19, he supported Peru's civil society response to the pandemic, leading the redesign of the national COVID-19 mortality surveillance system. Between 2019-2022, Mateo worked with the United Kingdom Health Security Agency in STI surveillance, and led community engagement for mpox in England. Subsequently, he joined the WHO as a consultant for mpox, where he coordinated social science approaches to risk communication.

Mateo Prochazka Núñez is a technical officer for HIV prevention with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mateo studied medicine in Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, where he developed a passion for infectious diseases and health inequalities. He is an epidemiologist and social scientist trained at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Washington.

Mateo has over a decade of experience in infectious disease control, spanning from HIV and other STIs to tuberculosis, NTDs, and emerging infectious diseases. During COVID-19, he supported Peru's civil society response to the pandemic, leading the redesign of the national COVID-19 mortality surveillance system. Between 2019-2022, Mateo worked with the United Kingdom Health Security Agency in STI surveillance, and led community engagement for mpox in England. Subsequently, he joined the WHO as a consultant for mpox, where he coordinated social science approaches to risk communication.

Senior Technical Advisor at the National Department of Health in South Africa from 2010 to present.

Provided technical support for the revitalizing and strengthening the Primary Health Care (PHC) system, establishment ward-based outreach teams, development PHC staffing norms, the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Supported HIV Prevention amongst adolescent girls and young women and the introduction and expansion of oral HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in South Africa since 2015. More recently involved in supporting the introduction of long-acting HIV prevention products.

Professor Saiqa Mullick is a Reader/Associate Professor and Director of Implementation Science at Wits RHI. Prof Saiqa Mullick is a medical doctor and infectious disease epidemiologist specialising in innovative interventions for HIV prevention, and sexual and reproductive health. At Wits RHI, she leads a multi-disciplinary team driving implementation science research, policy support, demand creation, market shaping, and large-scale program execution.
Notably, she is the principal investigator on multiple implementation science studies focusing on generating real-world data on integrating new PrEP methods into service delivery for young women. She has served as Deputy Director for the USAID-funded OPTIONS Consortium, enhancing HIV prevention access for women in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. She currently is a strategic leader in the MOSAIC project, accelerating new biomedical HIV prevention products across 13 countries in East and Southern Africa.
Prof Mullick serves on several national and international technical expert committees, including the national PrEP and STI technical working groups and the WHO STI Guidelines Development Group.

Nicolette Naidoo is a Programme Head for Implementation Science. She is the Principal Investigator of a DREAMS differentiated service delivery programme providing PrEP choice and the country PI for a multi-country implementation science study (CATALYST) offering oral PrEP, PrEP Ring and CAB PrEP.

Professor at the UCL Institute for Global Health, (Hon) Consultant in HIV and director of Implementation research at the Africa Health Research Institute. Lead an interdisciplinary programme to reduce HIV and improve the sexual health of adolescents and young adults living in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Professor Saiqa Mullick is a Reader/Associate Professor and Director of Implementation Science at Wits RHI. Prof Saiqa Mullick is a medical doctor and infectious disease epidemiologist specialising in innovative interventions for HIV prevention, and sexual and reproductive health. At Wits RHI, she leads a multi-disciplinary team driving implementation science research, policy support, demand creation, market shaping, and large-scale program execution.
Notably, she is the principal investigator on multiple implementation science studies focusing on generating real-world data on integrating new PrEP methods into service delivery for young women. She has served as Deputy Director for the USAID-funded OPTIONS Consortium, enhancing HIV prevention access for women in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. She currently is a strategic leader in the MOSAIC project, accelerating new biomedical HIV prevention products across 13 countries in East and Southern Africa.
Prof Mullick serves on several national and international technical expert committees, including the national PrEP and STI technical working groups and the WHO STI Guidelines Development Group.

Nicolette Naidoo is a Programme Head for Implementation Science. She is the Principal Investigator of a DREAMS differentiated service delivery programme providing PrEP choice and the country PI for a multi-country implementation science study (CATALYST) offering oral PrEP, PrEP Ring and CAB PrEP.

Professor at the UCL Institute for Global Health, (Hon) Consultant in HIV and director of Implementation research at the Africa Health Research Institute. Lead an interdisciplinary programme to reduce HIV and improve the sexual health of adolescents and young adults living in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.