HIV/AIDS

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The global HIV/AIDS epidemic has become one of the greatest threats to human health and development. Although HIV and AIDS are found in all parts of the world, some areas are more afflicted than others. The worst affected region is sub-Saharan Africa, where in a few countries more than one in five adults is infected with HIV.

Weak infrastructure and shortages of health workers in the worst affected countries are major obstacles in tackling the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Political and cultural attitudes are also significant impediments. For example, many parents and educators are reluctant to provide young people with adequate education about sex and sexual health.

There is much that can be done to reduce the impact of AIDS, beginning with the prevention of HIV transmission by empowering people with more knowledge on the latest research and guidance. Recognizing the transformative power of knowledge-sharing, K4Health provides a number of activities focused on knowledge-sharing around HIV/AIDS, including:

  • Spearheading the development of Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Regional Exchange (SHARE), a community-driven information and communications hub through which people from across Southern Africa can share and find current information and knowledge on HIV prevention and related health topics;
  • Creating and managing Toolkits on a variety of HIV/AIDS related topics, such as Adolescents Living with HIV (ALHIV), Family Planning and HIV Services Integration, Human Resources in Health (HRH) , Malawi HIV/AIDS, Multiple and Concurrent Partnerships, and Peace Corps – HIV/AIDS , to name a few;
  • Developing eLearning courses on a variety of HIV/AIDS related topics, such as the PEPFAR eLearning courses on monitoring and evaluation and leadership topics, and SAfAIDS’ courses on Documentation and Communication of Best Practices for HIV/AIDS Programmes and Traditional Leaders Championing HIV and Gender-Based Violence Prevention;
  • Supporting the national community information centers, such as Swaziland’s Nkamanzi Community Info Centre; and
  • Implementing the K4Health/Nigeria Web-based Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program for Medical Laboratory Scientists to continuously improve their knowledge, update and sharpen old skills, and acquire new ones on diagnosing HIV, TB, and malaria.
  • Blog post
    May 13, 2013

    MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Durex Collaborate to Achieve HIV-Free Generation

    Bringing about real change in the area of global health is a hard task and requires a great deal of resources. Often bringing for-profit entities to the table can open a plethora of assets that might not have been available otherwise. My recent post, originally appearing on the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Regional Exchange (SHARE) Blog, talks about how a public and private partnership is hoping to get real results in the HIV prevention world.

    Announced this month, the collaboration between the world’s largest youth-focused HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention campaign, MTV Staying Alive Foundation (MTV SAF) and the world’s largest condom brand, Durex. This comes at a pivotal time in HIV prevention; with more funding being allocated towards biomedical interventions, prevention has been pushed to the back burner. However the emphasis on HIV prevention is still an intricate part of moving towards a HIV-free generation. MTV SAF and Durex are giving the power of creating HIV prevention and creative sexual education programs into the hands of those it affects the most; youth.

    MTV and Durex Are in a Relationship

    MTV and Durex Are in a Relationship

    MTV SAF’s mission is to produce ground-breaking, original content that delivers vital HIV prevention messaging to a young global audience. Along with producing global, free to use and distribute service announcements, videos and documentaries, MTV SAF funds grantees to do HIV prevention work worldwide. These grantees are young people running grassroots prevention programs in their communities, they receive funding, training and mentoring to have a sustainable program to prevent HIV. 

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  • Event
    June 13, 2013 (All day) to June 15, 2013 (All day)
    São Paulo, Brazil

    HIV Drug Therapy in the Americas 2013

     

    This 3-day educational scientific meeting will build upon the Glasgow heritage to establish an accessible and regionally relevant programme focusing on a range of aspects relating to HIV treatment.

    A truly global faculty of established experts and newer colleagues from within and beyond the region will join to establish a regional programme targeted at clinical practitioners, healthcare workers, scientists, and community representatives.

  • Blog post
    March 05, 2013

    Interpersonal Communication for HIV Prevention: the Banake Initiative

    Residents of Khayelitsha worry about a neighbour’s daughter who is only 13 but does not go to school because she cannot afford transport. She was raped by an old man. Her mother does not care and drinks a lot, swears at her about the rape and hits her. The child wants to go to school, so she went to stay in a neighbour’s home. The neighbour is also struggling and cannot afford the transport and school fees. – Banake Initiative Field Worker Diary

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  • Event
    November 12, 2012 (All day) to November 14, 2012 (All day)
    Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) Practicum

    The African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet), a network of more than 1,500 strategic communication practitioners from 52 countries, proposes a three-day practicum focused on Interpersonal and Community-based HIV Communication Initiatives in Africa: Evidence and Lessons.

  • Blog post
    August 07, 2012

    Dr. Jim Shelton's Pearls: Low Infectiousness in Chronic Phase of HIV Infection

    Dr. Jim Shelton's Pearls is an occasional series by USAID’s Global Health Science Advisor that answers commonly asked questions about family planning. 

    Originally posted on March 8, 2010.

    Question: That’s very interesting that during the chronic phase of HIV infection genital transmission risk is relatively low. Why would that be?

    Answer: At least 4 possible reasons may well explain the relatively low transmission rate during the chronic phase of infection, such as observed in discordant couple studies.

    Dr. Jim Shelton's Pearls
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  • Blog post
    July 02, 2012

    Putting HIV Prevention in Women’s Hands: Clinical Trial for Microbicide Ring Begins

    In recent years, innovative contraceptive methods that are discreet and female-initiated have expanded contraceptive access to millions of women who wish to prevent, space, or limit pregnancies but must do so without their partners’ cooperation. The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), developers of a new microbicide ring currently undergoing clinical trial in South Africa, hope to apply this same principle to HIV prevention. If proven safe for long-term use, the monthly vaginal ring, which steadily releases the antiretroviral (ARV) drug dapivirine, will serve as a valuable HIV prevention option for women, particularly those who wish to become pregnant or who are unable to safely negotiate condom use or monogamy with their partners. Offering new HIV prevention options to women is particularly important in high-prevalence regions like sub-Saharan Africa, where 60 percent of HIV infections are among women and girls.

    Vaginal Microbicidal Ring

    A woman holds a vaginal microbicidal ring, now undergoing clinical trials.

    This research comes on the heels of a number of recent studies that have shown that ARV treatment can prevent the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant partners when used consistently and correctly. Researchers have found that adherence can pose a serious barrier to the effectiveness of ARV-as-prevention. The microbicide ring addresses this barrier by delivering ARV treatment locally over the course of a month; the only action required by the user is insertion of the vaginal ring at the beginning of the month and removal at the end. Another benefit of this approach might be lessened side effects due to the low systemic absorption of dapivirine. A number of safety and acceptability studies have found the ring to be highly acceptable to women and their partners.

    Vaginal Ring
    Clinical Trial
    PSI
    International Partnership for Microbicides
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  • Event
    August 05, 2012 (All day) to August 07, 2012 (All day)
    New Orleans, LA, USA

    National Reproductive Health Conference Title X

     

    The goals of this conference are to provide participants with an understanding of the central role of the Title X Family Planning program
    in meeting the reproductive and sexual health needs of diverse individuals and families and provide a scientific basis for the integration of contraception, health education, disease screening,
    and culturally responsive care for preventive and therapeutic reproductive health care in a complex health care system
  • Blog post
    June 21, 2012

    Tailoring Health Services For Children

    Tailoring Health Services for Children 1

    Nurse Sophie Nsibande checking the Child Diabetes Register being used in a new child-screening health project with the Swazi government. As a result of her training in REPSSI’s Certificate Course, she has helped transform the approach of the national Non-Communicable Diseases programme to better focus on children © REPSSI 2012.

    Children can sometimes be overlooked in government health services, particularly in health programmes that focus on services more typically associated with adults.

    A new qualification, designed for people working directly with children, is demonstrating the value of building child-sensitive skills across all government sectors, including health. The Certificate Course in Community Based Work With Children and Youth has been enthusiastically adopted by the Swazi government, with students on the course being drawn from state education, health and social services.

    An example is Nurse Sophie Nsibande, who is working on community outreach within the Swazi Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Programme.

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  • Publications & Resources
    May 15, 2012

    Male Circumcision (Swaziland's Accelerated Initiative) Toolkit

    This toolkit shares the activities of Soka Uncobe, a national male circumcision (MC) plan with an accelerated initiative, in Swaziland. In addition, it documents the development and dissemination of the communications strategy and materials.

  • Event
    December 01, 2012 (All day)

    World AIDS Day

    World AIDS Day on 1 December brings together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. The day is an opportunity for public and private partners to spread awareness about the status of the pandemic and encourage progress in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in high prevalence countries and around the world.

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