Dr. Rupa Patel Joins WHO Technical Advisory Group as PrEP Expert

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Rupa Patel, MD, MPH, DTM&H

Rupa Patel, MD, MPH, DTM&H, has recently been invited to the World Health Organization technical advisory group for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is a powerful HIV prevention tool, in the form of HIV medicines, for HIV-negative people who are at substantial risk of acquiring HIV. Dr. Patel’s role has contributed to the first-ever drafted WHO PrEP Guidelines 2016 (full version). Recently, she attended a meeting hosted by the WHO and UNAIDS in Geneva regarding a three-site implementation demonstration project. She reviewed PrEP provision protocols with the Ministries of Health from Brazil, South Africa, and Thailand. On May 26th, she was invited to the 69th World Health Assembly session which drafted international HIV prevention and treatment goals for 2020. She recently returned from the International AIDS Conference in Durban where she participated in a meeting hosted by the Government of South Africa, WHO, and UNAIDS with the mission to develop context-tailored tools for PrEP service delivery and uptake among providers and consumers to be used in South Africa and other African nations.