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Strengthening Capacity In Hiv Operations Research: Reflections On A Project Soar Workshop In Johannesburg, South Africa, Project Soar
Strengthening Capacity In Hiv Operations Research: Reflections On A Project Soar Workshop In Johannesburg, South Africa, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Capacity strengthening (CS) to support rigorous scientific research is a globally recognized need and central to Project SOAR. Over a four-day period, SOAR conducted a CS workshop to strengthen individual and institutional capacity in HIV operations research, with a particular emphasis on the research utilization process. This brief summarizes the CS activities conducted, insights from the workshop’s organization, and participants’ views of the workshop.
Evaluation Of The Pepfar/Usaid Asibonisane Community Responses Program In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Project Soar
Evaluation Of The Pepfar/Usaid Asibonisane Community Responses Program In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Few programs intended to improve HIV outcomes or modulate gender norms have been rigorously evaluated in South Africa’s informal settlements where nearly 400,000 people live in KwaZulu Natal province alone. There is limited evidence on how to implement large-scale HIV-prevention programming in these contexts. Project SOAR and partners are addressing these knowledge gaps by conducting an evaluation of the PEPFAR/USAID-funded Asibonisane Community Responses Program in South Africa. Specifically, the study will assess the effectiveness of this community-based HIV-prevention program in informal settlements throughout KwaZulu-Natal—one of four provinces where the program is being carried out. This study aims to influence the …
A Systems Approach To Improving Delivery And Update Of Facility-Based Hiv Testing And Linkage To Care In South Africa, Project Soar
A Systems Approach To Improving Delivery And Update Of Facility-Based Hiv Testing And Linkage To Care In South Africa, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Project SOAR is examining the current delivery of HIV testing (HTS) and linkages to care (LTC) services—including barriers, facilitators, and infrastructure—in Ekurhuleni District, South Africa which has the second-highest district-level HIV prevalence in the country. Based on these formative findings, the project will develop and test tailored approaches to increase patients’ uptake of HTS and subsequent LTC, if positive. The project expects to find evidence of HTS coverage outside of antenatal care; document key systems-level barriers to HTS and LTC; assess potentially generalizable clinic-level strategies to increase HTS delivery and assess LTC needs; and identify the added value for implementation …
Are We Meeting The Hiv Service Needs Of People Living In Informal Settlements In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa?, Project Soar
Are We Meeting The Hiv Service Needs Of People Living In Informal Settlements In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa?, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
This brief summarizes the characteristics and circumstances of approximately 1,500 men and women living in 18 informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The data come from a baseline survey conducted in mid-2017 as part of an evaluation of the PEPFAR/USAID-funded Asibonisane Community Responses program. Project SOAR/Population Council conducted the evaluation in partnership with the MatCH Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand. The findings presented here highlight the need for HIV treatment services to be more responsive to residents living with HIV in informal settlements. Furthermore, continued efforts are needed to reduce HIV risk and intimate partner violence among young …
Effective Engagement Of Male Partners Of Adolescent Girls And Young Women In South Africa, Population Council
Effective Engagement Of Male Partners Of Adolescent Girls And Young Women In South Africa, Population Council
HIV and AIDS
The Population Council is conducting implementation research in South Africa, in collaboration with local partner organizations, to learn more about men’s relationships with adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and how HIV services can better engage them—two neglected areas of research. Similar studies are being conducted in Uganda, Swaziland, and Malawi. Learnings from these studies will be valuable for informing ongoing programming in South Africa and the region, as well as HIV prevention, care, and treatment efforts for AGYW and their male partners globally, particularly in this era of test and start.
Optimizing Community Services For An Improved Continuum Of Hiv Care, Project Soar
Optimizing Community Services For An Improved Continuum Of Hiv Care, Project Soar
HIV and AIDS
Project SOAR, together with Aurum Institute, is conducting research in Ekurhuleni District and Bojanala District in South Africa to improve the availability of effective care continuum services to meet the communities’ HIV treatment needs. The two districts have a combined population of 3.6 million inhabitants and approximately 350 public clinics and hospitals. Through improved information on community HIV care services and their relationship to care continuum outcomes, the study will provide valuable new knowledge about service gaps and approaches to planning and delivering services that best achieve HIV treatment goals.
Private Sector Costing Of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision In South Africa, Michel Tchuenche, Steven Forsythe
Private Sector Costing Of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision In South Africa, Michel Tchuenche, Steven Forsythe
HIV and AIDS
In 2010, after voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) had been shown to be one of the most cost-effective strategies for preventing HIV infections, South Africa initiated a VMMC program with an ambitious target of performing 4.3 million circumcisions by 2016. However, because of a gap in knowledge concerning the overall cost of scaling up services, the South African National Department of Health requested that Project SOAR—Supporting Operational AIDS Research—conduct a private-sector costing of providing VMMC services in South Africa. The findings presented in this report provide a detailed investigation, through a comprehensive bottom-up approach, of the costs to private providers …
Preventing Pediatric Tuberculosis: A Randomized Trial Of Symptom-Based Screening Of South African Children Exposed To Tuberculosis, Population Council
Preventing Pediatric Tuberculosis: A Randomized Trial Of Symptom-Based Screening Of South African Children Exposed To Tuberculosis, Population Council
HIV and AIDS
In South Africa, a country with one of the highest levels of HIV prevalence, HIV-positive adults are the source case for a large proportion of pediatric tuberculosis (TB) cases. Unfortunately, TB index cases are not consistently asked about their child contacts, not all child contacts present to the clinic for TB screening, and it remains unknown what proportion of child contacts receive isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT)—a highly effective treatment for preventing TB in these children, long recommended by the World Health Organization. Project SOAR is assessing whether a symptom-based screening approach by TB nurses in community health clinics is more …