Category Archives: Health Systems
Closing Diagnostic Gaps in Pediatric HIV: Innovations in Point-of-Care and Digital Monitoring with an Asia-Pacific Implementation Lens-A Systematic Review
Background/Objectives: Pediatric HIV case-finding and monitoring remain constrained by delayed early infant diagnosis (EID), loss to follow-up, and limited viral load (VL) testing-challenges particularly consequential in the operationally diverse Asia-Pacific...
HIV self-testing and clinician-administered testing in Southern Africa: A systematic review of programmatic outcomes
OBJECTIVE: In 2024, an estimated 5.3 million of 40.8 million people with HIV (PWH) globally were unaware of their status, with Southern Africa bearing the highest regional burden. This review...
Person-centred HIV prevention services in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review
BACKGROUND: In spite of numerous advancements in HIV prevention, there are still gaps that impede reaching key populations throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Traditional approaches usually overlook personal preferences, social context and...
Systematic scoping review on HIV services for males in Sub-Saharan Africa: Access, barriers, and research gaps
BACKGROUND: Access to HIV services among men and boys in Sub-Saharan Africa is a significant public health challenge, exacerbated by cultural norms surrounding masculinity. This scoping review systematically investigates disparities...
Gender-responsive and -transformative interventions in HIV, TB and malaria programmes: A review of evidence
Gender-responsive and -transformative interventions are essential for tackling harmful social norms and discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that drive gender inequalities and health inequities especially for women, girls, and gender-diverse...
Effects of Digital Health Interventions to Promote Safer Sex Behaviors Among Youth: Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND: Youth aged 15-24 years carry a disproportionate HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) burden. In recent years, different modalities of digital health interventions (DHIs) have been explored to promote safer sex...
Interventions for thriving in HIV serodiscordant relationships in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review
BACKGROUND: HIV serodiscordant relationships, where one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative, present unique challenges despite biomedical advances including Uƒ_%=ƒ_%U (Undetectableƒ_%=ƒ_%Untransmittable). Effective interventions are crucial to support these...
Incidence and predictors of opportunistic infection among people living with HIV in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background Opportunistic infections (OIs) play a crucial role in the morbidity and mortality of HIV‐infected individuals. Despite the increasing use of antiretroviral therapy, there remains a lack of comprehensive data...
Factors associated with severity of pulmonary tuberculosis in people living with and without HIV: A systematic review
Introduction Tuberculosis is a leading infectious cause of death and morbidity in people with and without HIV. Better identification of severe forms could help target early interventions to reduce mortality...
The prognosis characteristics of HIV/HBV co-infection after antiviral therapy: A comprehensive review
Co-infection of HIV and HBV is still a major global public health concern. Co-infected people have a nearly threefold increased risk of end-stage liver disease, with a noticeably faster development...
Mental health of women with HIV: A qualitative meta-synthesis
BACKGROUND: Women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) experience significant psychological burdens due to biological and gendered factors such as pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. However, a life course-based understanding of...
