{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T01:56:57Z","timestamp":1775181417744,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775088000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":1,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to be the hub of the global HIV\/AIDS pandemic, globally. Despite several attempts to meet their HIV prevention needs, men continue to have high rates of HIV infection. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective treatment that, when taken as prescribed, can be very efficient in preventing and reducing the risk of HIV acquisition. HIV self-testing (HIVST) has been demonstrated to be acceptable among men in SSA. As such, this review aims to explore the existing literature on the integration of PrEP dispensing with HIVST among men in SSA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We will systematically search bibliometric databases, including PubMed\/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Plus, Sociological Abstracts, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses global. Our review will be guided by the Arskey and O\u2019Malley framework and Levac\n                      <jats:italic>et al.<\/jats:italic>\n                      The review results will be reported using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis: extension for scoping reviews guidelines. To assess the methodological quality of the included articles, the mixed methods appraisal tool version 2018 will be used. We will use NVivo software (V.11) to synthesise data from the included studies using a thematic approach.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Ethics and dissemination<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Ethical approval is not required, as this review uses publicly available data. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations and engagement with key stakeholders in HIV prevention and treatment across SSA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-107440","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T01:20:25Z","timestamp":1775179225000},"page":"e107440","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Integration of PrEP dispensing with HIV self-testing among heterosexual men in Sub-Saharan Africa: protocol for a scoping review"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5352-5658","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mbuzeleni","family":"Hlongwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health, Societies and Belonging, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa"},{"name":"School of Nursing and Public Health Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexander C","family":"Tsai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Global Health and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA"},{"name":"Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Augustine","family":"Choko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health Group, Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Chichiri, Blantyre, Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.1","unstructured":"UNAIDS . AIDS, crisis and the power to transform: UNAIDS global AIDS update 2025. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV\/AIDS; 2025. Available: www.unaids.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-07\/2025-global-aids-update-JC3153_en.pdf"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.2","unstructured":"UNAIDS . A snapshot of men and HIV in South Africa. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2017. Available: https:\/\/www.unaids.org\/sites\/default\/files\/snapshot-men-hiv-south-africa_en.pdf"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.3","unstructured":"Johnson LF , Dorrington RE , Moolla H , et al . Thembisa version 4.8: a model for evaluating the impact of HIV\/AIDS in South Africa \u2013 national estimates. Cape Town: University of Cape Town; 2025. Available: https:\/\/thembisa.org\/content\/downloadPage\/Thembisa4_8report"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1108524"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.5","unstructured":"Center for Disease Control and Prevention . Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2022."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.6","unstructured":"World Health Organization . Policy brief: pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): who expands recommendation on oral pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV infection (PrEP). World Health Organization; 2015."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.7","unstructured":"World Health Organization . Guidance on pre-exposure oral prophylaxis (PrEP)for serodiscordant couples, men who have sex with men and transgender womenat high risk of HIV in implementation research. Geneva World Health Organization; 2012."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/jia2.26249","article-title":"Experiences of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis use among heterosexual men accessing sexual and reproductive health services in South Africa: a qualitative study","volume":"27","author":"Cholo","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Int AIDS Soc"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10508-020-01880-y"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1472-6963-14-1"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mayer CM , Owaraganise A , Kabami J , et al . Distance to clinic is a barrier to Pr EP uptake and visit attendance in a community in rural Uganda. J Intern AIDS Soc 2019;22. doi:10.1002\/jia2.25276","DOI":"10.1002\/jia2.25276"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1002099","article-title":"Integrated Delivery of Antiretroviral Treatment and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis to HIV-1-Serodiscordant Couples: A Prospective Implementation Study in Kenya and Uganda","volume":"13","author":"Baeten","year":"2016","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2407001"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11904-018-0385-0"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.15","unstructured":"World Health Organization . Improving men\u2019s uptake of HIV testing and linkage to services. Geneva World Health Organization; 2021."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.16","unstructured":"World Health Organization . Men and HIV: evidence-based approaches and interventions. a framework for person-centred health services. Geneva World Health Organization; 2023."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hlongwa M , Mashamba-Thompson T , Makhunga S , et al . Men\u2019s perspectives on HIV self-testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-synthesis. BMC Public Health 2020;20. doi:10.1186\/s12889-020-8184-0","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-020-8184-0"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-019-4124-y"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.19","unstructured":"World Health Organization . What\u2019s the 2+1+1? Event-driven oral pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV for men who have sex with men: update to WHO\u2019s recommendation on oral PrEP. 2019."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1001401","article-title":"The cost and impact of scaling up pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention: a systematic review of cost-effectiveness modelling studies","volume":"10","author":"Gomez","year":"2013","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(14)70937-5"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.22","unstructured":"World Health Organization . Guideline on when to start antiretroviral therapy and on pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV. 2015."},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/jia2.25827","article-title":"HIV PrEP is more than ART-lite: Longitudinal study of real-world PrEP services data identifies missing measures meaningful to HIV prevention programming","volume":"24","author":"Reed","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Int AIDS Soc"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2017.304061"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1364557032000119616"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1748-5908-5-69"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.11124\/JBIES-20-00167"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7326\/M18-0850"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13643-016-0384-4"},{"key":"2026040218201534000_16.4.e107440.30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3233\/EFI-180221"}],"container-title":["BMJ Open"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-107440","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T01:20:28Z","timestamp":1775179228000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bmjopen.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-107440"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-107440"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-107440","relation":{},"ISSN":["2044-6055","2044-6055"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2044-6055","type":"print"},{"value":"2044-6055","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]}}}