Showing 21 - 40 of 48 Results for "Zimbabw"

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Provision of ART can reduce stigma, but additional interventions are needed. Studies found that lack of knowledge of ARV treatment increased stigma, but that ARV treatment alone did not eliminate stigma and discrimination.
Reducing Stigma and Discrimination
1 study
Health care provider training is needed to increase confidentiality and decrease discrimination against sex workers seeking health services. Studies found that significant proportions of female and transgender sex workers did not visit health facilities because of lack of confidentiality, discrimination, and lack of counseling when accessing HIV testing.
Female Sex Workers
1 study
Actions are needed to increase young people’s knowledge of when and where to access health services, including access to contraception and condoms. A UNESCO review found that young people lacked knowledge of where to access health services to meet their needs. Adolescents in numerous countries are sexually active, yet have low rates of contraceptive use. Adolescents need accurate detailed information about the level of risk of different sex acts (oral, genital and anal). Studies found that youth aged 15 to 24 were at high risk of either acquiring HIV or testing HIV-positive, yet less likely to report having been tested for HIV. Increased knowledge that HIV-positive infants can survive to adolescence is also needed so that these young people can get tested for HIV and access services. In some countries, HIV prevalence among both female and male adolescents who tested for HIV was as high as 16%. [See also Meeting the %{s:35}]
Increasing Access to Services
1 study
Sex and age disaggregated data is critical to assess which ages are falling through the cracks in data collection. Current HIV data collection masks critically needed data on adolescents ages 10 to 19. For example, a study that disaggregated ages found that loss to follow up for patients aged 10 to 24 was twice as high for ages 15 to 19 than for ages 10 to 14 (Koech et al., 2014).
Increasing Access to Services
1 study
Interventions are needed to counter gender norms that discourage men from attending health services until they are extremely sick. Studies have shown that norms of masculinity prevent men from accessing ART until severely symptomatic.
Provision and Access
1 study
HIV surveillance systems do not count those over age fifty, particularly women, and treatment guidelines are missing for this age group. Currently, 4.2 million people live with HIV globally with increasing numbers of people over the age of 50 living with HIV. Few studies assess prevalence among women above age 50. Integration of treatments for common chronic diseases of old age will need to be integrated into HIV services.
Provision and Access
1 study
Further interventions are needed to incorporate violence prevention, screening and counseling services into PMTCT testing and counseling. [See also %{s:59}] Studies found high rates of violence, sexual coercion and abuse among HIV-positive pregnant women, particularly when accessing HIV testing or during disclosure.
Antenatal Care - Testing and Counseling
1 study
Interventions, including community based distribution of cART and/or funds for transport, are needed to reach pregnant women living with HIV who do not access ANC, postpartum care or cART. “Restrictions on women’s mobility and lack of access to transportation and financial resources may limit their ability to seek PMTCT services” (Ghanotakis et al., 2012: table 2).
Antenatal Care - Treatment
1 study
Interventions are needed to reduce the higher attrition rate among pregnant adolescents living with HIV, including those perinatally infected, and provide needed support by parents and others. [See also %{c:9}] Additional research may also be needed on how to best care for perinatally-infected pregnant women who have decreased virological suppression, increased risk of vertical transmission and increased challenges in remaining adherent. While currently noted in the United States, it is anticipated to be relevant to low- and middle-income countries as more perinatally-infected women give birth.
Antenatal Care - Treatment
1 study
Clear policies and legislation supporting access to information and sexuality education are needed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission among young people. Studies found that sex education was lacking, particularly among street children who are at high risk of HIV acquisition.
Mitigating Risk
1 study
Interventions are needed to counter gender norms, such as those which value girls’ sexual ignorance and virginity, which place girls at risk for HIV transmission. [See also %{s:57}] Studies found that gender norms valued sexual ignorance of girls and therefore girls were at risk of HIV acquisition. Some studies found that women did not know anything about HIV until they became HIV-positive. Girls are taught to surrender power to meet cultural expectations of being a good girl or good woman. Boys derive status from having multiple sexual partners.
Mitigating Risk
1 study
Further interventions are needed to help female OVCs reduce risky sexual behaviors and protect them from sexual violence. [See also %{s:73}] Studies found that female orphans had higher rates of early sexual debut and were more likely to have had coerced sex.
Mitigating Risk
1 study
Concerted efforts are needed to enable adolescents at risk to test confidentially for HIV and be immediately linked to services, with information on where and how to access services. Access to and update of HIV testing and counseling (HTC) by adolescents is significantly lower than for adults. One study found that adolescents who were tested through provider-initiated testing (the WHO standard) had higher loss to follow up if they tested HIV-positive than adolescents who were tested through voluntary testing and counseling (Lamb et al., 2014). HTC must, according to WHO, include consent, confidentiality, counseling, correct test results and connections to treatment, care and prevention services. A recent report found that no data exists for HTC among ages 10 to 14 (All in to End Adolescent AIDS, 2015c). Access to HTC for adolescents who inject drugs is particularly challenging. HTC clients also need counseling on contraception and referral to services.
Increasing Access to Services
1 study
Enforcement of standard protocols is needed to reduce the risk of provider coercion in HIV testing, particularly in provider-initiated testing and counseling. Studies found that significant numbers of women reported that they could not refuse an HIV test or that HIV testing was mandatory.
HIV Testing and Counseling for Women
1 study
Further interventions are needed to reduce stigma and discrimination against women, specifically, who are at high risk or living with HIV. [See also %{s:45}] Studies found that women and girls are highly stigmatized if they test positive for HIV. Stigma impacts the HIV-positive woman, herself, as well as her children, her siblings and her family. Some providers also discriminate against those living with HIV.
Reducing Stigma and Discrimination
1 study
Further interventions to provide support programs, including counseling, are needed for AIDS-orphaned children and their caregivers to combat depression, social isolation and stigma. Studies found that AIDS orphans reported insufficient food, depression and stigma.
Orphans and Vulnerable Children
1 study
Greater efforts are needed to help young people personalize HIV risks. Studies found that knowledge about HIV prevention was superficial and that young people believed that they were not personally at risk of HIV acquisition despite risky behaviors and that condoms were not used because of “trust in partners.” Another study found that one adolescent girl reported she did not need to test for HIV as the only people at risk for acquiring HIV were those “who go to beer halls and pubs – prostitutes” (Ferrand et al., 2011). Married adolescent girls who had not become pregnant were significantly less likely to have had HIV testing and counseling (HTC) yet reported high rates of coerced sex within marriage, associated with acquiring HIV. Adolescents in one study suggested visiting hospices or people who were sick with HIV to understand more about HIV.
Mitigating Risk
1 study
Successful strategies are needed to increase adherence to ART among adolescents and reduce loss to follow up. A study found that adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 living with HIV were more likely, following treatment initiation, to have higher viral loads, higher rates of virological failure and greater low to follow up from services. Another study found that adolescents (ages 9 to 19) had poorer virological outcomes compared to young adults (ages 20 to 28). A review found few estimates on viral suppression among ages 10 to 19 (All in End Adolescent AIDS, 2015c). A specialized HIV management program could not retain a substantial proportion of those who tested positive for HIV in care. A review of studies of adherence among adolescents and children in Lower and Middle Income countries found that most studies were cross-sectional with age data ranging from six months to 21, limiting the ability to define which strategies are key to increasing adherence among ages 10 to 19. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be further explored as a strategy to increase adherence in adolescent populations.
Increasing Access to Services
1 study
Youth-friendly services are needed within schools to increase access to condoms and/or HIV testing for those who are sexually active. A study found that youth in numerous countries do not have information or access to condoms within school systems.
Increasing Access to Services
1 study
Barriers such as cost of medications, stigma, long clinic waits, lack of food, and child-care responsibilities, among others, may discourage women living with HIV from accessing antiretroviral therapy. A study found that patients who were living with HIV but did not access antiretroviral therapy were twice as likely as patients on antiretroviral therapy to report not having enough food to take with treatment as a concern, in addition to concerns about cost barriers. Another study found that cost of ARVs, with direct out of pocket payment at point of care delivery decreased access to ARVs. Another study found transport costs and waiting time a barrier to access to treatment. Increased efforts are needed so that those in pre-ART care understand that HIV can be transmitted prior to ART eligibility.
Provision and Access
1 study