03.09.2026journal-article
Frontiers in Public Health
From one-size-fits-all to context-specific: the 10-day observation rule-a need for change
WHO’s ‘Zero by 30’ strategic plan relies on post-exposure prophylaxis guidelines designed for high-resource settings. This policy brief argues that the implementation gap of the 10-day observation rule in high-burden countries stems from fundamental infeasibility, exposing two paradigm defects in WHO guideline development: one-size-fits-all thinking and insufficient attention to implementation science. When the public misinterprets the 10-day rule as “wait and see” rather than “initiate PEP immediately while observ …