Category Archives: Health Systems
Advancing the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of women living with HIV: A review of UN, regional and national human rights norms and standards
INTRODUCTION: The right to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is an essential part of the right to health and is dependent upon substantive equality, including freedom from multiple and intersecting...
Is there scope for cost savings and efficiency gains in HIV services? A systematic review of the evidence from low- and middle-income countries
OBJECTIVE: To synthesize the data available–on costs, efficiency and economies of scale and scope–for the six basic programmes of the UNAIDS Strategic Investment Framework, to inform those planning the scale-up...
Systematic review of facility-based sexual and reproductive health services for female sex workers in Africa
BACKGROUND: Several biological, behavioural, and structural risk factors place female sex workers (FSWs) at heightened risk of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other adverse sexual and reproductive health (SRH)...
The role of nurses in HIV screening in health care facilities: A systematic review
OBJECTIVE: To examine nurse-driven HIV screening in various health care settings in terms of its impact on test offering, acceptance and delivery rates, nursing responsibilities, staff perceptions and long-term implementation....
Taking culture seriously in biomedical HIV prevention trials: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies
A substantial gap exists between widespread acknowledgement of the importance of incorporating cultural sensitivity in biomedical HIV prevention trials and empirical evidence to guide the operationalization of cultural sensitivity in...
The cost and cost-effectiveness of gender-responsive interventions for HIV: A systematic review
INTRODUCTION: Harmful gender norms and inequalities, including gender-based violence, are important structural barriers to effective HIV programming. We assess current evidence on what forms of gender-responsive intervention may enhance the...
The cost and impact of scaling up pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention: A systematic review of cost-effectiveness modelling studies
BACKGROUND: Cost-effectiveness studies inform resource allocation, strategy, and policy development. However, due to their complexity, dependence on assumptions made, and inherent uncertainty, synthesising, and generalising the results can be difficult....
Optimal strategies for monitoring response to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected adults, adolescents, children and pregnant women: A systematic review
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to examine different monitoring strategies (clinical, immunologic (CD4 T cell count measurement) and virologic (viral load measurement)) to inform revision of the 2013...
Service delivery interventions to improve adolescents’ linkage, retention and adherence to antiretroviral therapy and HIV care
OBJECTIVES: Adolescents living with HIV face substantial difficulties in accessing HIV care services and have worse treatment outcomes than other age groups. The objective of this review was to evaluate...
