As access to HIV/AIDS treatment increases in sub-Saharan Africa, greater attention is being paid to HIV-infected youth. Little is known about how HIV-positive youth are informed of their HIV infection. As part of a larger formative study informing a treatment program in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 youth … Read more

Despite decades of prevention efforts, millions of persons worldwide continue to become infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) every year. This urgent problem of global epidemic control has recently lead to significant changes in HIV testing policies. Provider-initiated approaches to HIV testing have been embraced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and … Read more

The concept of risk is fundamental to research ethics, and the determination of research-related risk posed to research participants is a crucial component of the review process conducted by institutional review boards (IRBs). Burris and Davis (2009) admirably draw attention to social risks in behavioral research, rather than the more traditional focus on physical risks … Read more

To the Editor: We thank Brewer et al. for this study, whose conclusions—in light of the 3 recent randomized trials demonstrating high efficacy of male circumcision (MC) as a means of reducing female-to-male transmission of HIV—emphasize the essential point that if MC is to be promoted as an intervention against HIV infection, then ensuring that … Read more

Researchers have been exploring the possibility of a correlation between male circumcision and lowered risk of HIV infection almost since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Results from a randomised controlled trial in South Africa in 2005 indicate that male circumcision protects men against the acquisition of HIV through heterosexual intercourse, confirming the findings from … Read more

Decades into the pandemic, the public health value of HIV surveillance is obvious. Surveillance is traditionally depicted as the “radar” or “eyes” of public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as “…ongoing, systematic collection of health data, with analysis, evaluation and interpretation of these data and prompt dissemination of the findings to public … Read more

Significant inequalities in health between and within countries have been measured over the past decades. Although these inequalities, as well as attempts to improve sub-standard health, raise profound issues of social justice and the right to health, those working in the field of bioethics have historically tended to devote greater attention to ethical issues raised … Read more

OBJECTIVES: We conducted formative research to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of continuous diaphragm use among low-income women highly exposed to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Madagascar. GOAL: To identify potential obstacles to researching the effectiveness of diaphragm use for STI prevention in a randomized controlled trial. STUDY DESIGN: Mixed methods to collect complex information. … Read more