Category Archives: Health Systems
A community empowerment approach to the HIV response among sex workers: Effectiveness, challenges, and considerations for implementation and scale-up
A community empowerment-based response to HIV is a process by which sex workers take collective ownership of programmes to achieve the most effective HIV outcomes and address social and structural...
Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B virus co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa and the potential impact and program feasibility of hepatitis B surface antigen screening in resource-limited settings
BACKGROUND: Screening people living with HIV for hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection is recommended in resource-rich settings to optimize HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) and mitigate HBV-related liver disease. This review...
Lessons learned from a review of interventions for adolescent and young key populations in Asia Pacific and opportunities for programming
BACKGROUND: Over a third of new HIV infections globally are among 15-24 year-olds and over 20% among adolescents aged 10-19 years in Asia Pacific. The review was initiated to identify...
The enabling effect of food assistance in improving adherence and/or treatment completion for antiretroviral therapy and tuberculosis treatment: A literature review
Socioeconomic costs of HIV and TB and the difficulty of maintaining optimal treatment are well documented. Social protection measures such as food assistance may be required to offset some of...
Ethical issues surrounding the provider initiated Opt-Out Prenatal HIV screening practice in Sub-Saharan Africa: A literature review
BACKGROUND: Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV remains a key public health priority in most developing countries. The provider Initiated Opt-Out Prenatal HIV Screening Approach, recommended by the...
Reproductive health and family planning needs among HIV-infected women in Sub-Saharan Africa
OBJECTIVE: Review key topics and recent literature regarding reproductive health and family planning needs for HIV-infected women in Sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Electronic searches performed in PubMed, JSTOR, and Web of...
A systematic review of the inclusion (or exclusion) of women in HIV research: From clinical studies of antiretrovirals and vaccines to cure strategies
INTRODUCTION: The effect of clinical interventions can differ due to sex/gender. Studies have shown that women are often underrepresented in medical research. The aim of this systematic literature review was...
Investments in sexually transmitted infection research, 1997-2013: A systematic analysis of funding awarded to UK institutions
BACKGROUND: We report the first study that analyses public and philanthropic investments awarded to UK institutions for research related to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). METHODS: We systematically searched award data...
Effective approaches for programming to reduce adolescent vulnerability to HIV infection, HIV risk, and HIV-related morbidity and mortality: A systematic review of systematic reviews
BACKGROUND: In 2012, an estimated 2.1 million adolescents were living with HIV. Though there are effective interventions to prevent and treat HIV infection, adolescents face specific barriers in accessing them....
New approaches to antiretroviral drug delivery: Challenges and opportunities associated with the use of long-acting injectable agents
Research on improved treatment of HIV infection and pre-exposure prophylaxis continues. Poor adherence to treatment is the critical risk factor for virological failure and resistance development, and long-acting formulations of...
Measures of quality of care for people with HIV: A scoping review of performance indicators for primary care
The healthcare of people with HIV is transitioning from specialty care to the primary healthcare (PHC) system. However, many of the performance indicators used to measure the quality of HIV...
