Category Archives: Food security
Structural competency as a global framework for syndemic HIV care: A critical synthesis
The co-occurrence of HIV with mental health disorders, substance use, and tuberculosis continues to constitute significant global public health issues. Syndemic theory elucidates how these conditions interact synergistically to exacerbate...
Optimising post-delivery viral load monitoring and HIV care to eliminate breastfeeding-associated HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa: A review
Sustained maternal HIV viral-load (VL) suppression during breastfeeding is essential for eliminating vertical HIV transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although vertical transmission prevention programmes have improved antiretroviral therapy coverage and peripartum...
HIV vulnerability among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review of individual social and structural determinants
BACKGROUND: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 15 to 24 years continue to bear a disproportionate burden of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa. Although substantial research has examined behavioral...
Family-centred care for children and adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review
Introduction Children and adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continue to face significant barriers to diagnosis, treatment adherence, retention in care and psychosocial support, despite progress in prevention...
Mapping psychosocial interventions for mental health and well-being among pregnant women living with HIV: A scoping review
BACKGROUND: Pregnant women living with HIV are at increased risk of depression, anxiety, stigma, gender-based violence, and poor engagement in prevention of mother-to-child transmission services. Psychosocial interventions are increasingly used...
Housing instability as a barrier to HIV viral suppression: Evidence from a U.S. systematic review and meta-analysis
Housing instability and homelessness remain pervasive structural determinants of poor HIV outcomes in the United States. People living with HIV (PLWH) who experience homelessness face intersecting barriers, including stigma, behavioral...
Organization and integration of care in the HIV-non-communicable disease syndemic: A rapid scoping review
Advances in antiretroviral therapy have transformed infection with HIV into a manageable chronic disease, increasing the survival of people living with HIV, who are also undergoing a demographic aging process...
The association between food insecurity and adverse health outcomes in adults: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Context An association of food insecurity (FI) with adverse health outcomes (AHOs) has been reported; however, the evidence in this context is still inconclusive. Objective The certainty and validity of...
Harm reduction progams and interventions for equity-deserving populations who use crack-cocaine. A scoping review
BACKGROUND: Crack-cocaine use is associated with severe physical and mental health consequences, including cardiac, pulmonary and psychiatric conditions. It also heightens the risk of overdose and transmission of infectious diseases...
Vulnerability and non-adherence to treatment in cisgender women living with HIV/AIDS: A scoping review (2000–2024)
Background Cisgender women are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS due to structural gender inequalities and intersecting social determinants, which generate vulnerability contexts that act as barriers to treatment adherence. Methods A...
Virologic suppression among HIV-positive pregnant and lactating women receiving antiretroviral therapy in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background The elimination of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a key global public health priority. In Africa, virologic failure among people living with HIV continues to pose a...
Effect of BMI on mortality in patients with tuberculosis and HIV coinfection in Asia and Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Background Tuberculosis (TB) continues to pose a major global health threat, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. An estimated 10.8 million people developed TB in 2023, corresponding to 134 cases...
