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Open AccessApplying the HIV Prevention Cascade to an Evaluation of a Large-Scale Combination HIV Prevention Programme for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa are at a three times higher risk of acquiring HIV than their male counterparts. The HIV prevention cascade is a tool which can be used to measure coverag...
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Article
The three-item patient-reported instrument for retrospective adherence in resource constrained settings: reliability, validity and potential utility
Introduction: Patient-report instruments remain the most feasible and sustainable approaches for monitoring medication adherence in clinical settings. However, questions of their reliability and validity persist....
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Open AccessWho is Exposed to HIV Prevention Interventions? An Assessment of Associated Factors Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa
This study examined the prevalence of HIV risk factors and their association with intervention exposure among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) living in six South African districts in which a combinatio...
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Open Access“Men Rule… this is the Normal Thing. We Normalise it and it’s Wrong”: Gendered Power in Decision-Making Around Sex and Condom Use in Heterosexual Relationships Amongst Adolescents and Young People in South Africa
We examined power and decision-making in heterosexual relationships amongst South African adolescents and young people. A survey conducted with 515 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) included items from t...
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Examining the Relationship Between Psychosocial Factors with Knowledge of HIV-Positive Status and Antiretroviral Therapy Exposure Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women Living with HIV in South Africa
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) living with HIV have poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes. We examined the relationship between psychosocial factors with knowledge of HIV-positive status and anti...
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Open Access“These Girls Have a Chance to be the Future Generation of HIV Negative”: Experiences of Implementing a PrEP Programme for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa
Daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly efficacious for HIV prevention. Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) have been prioritised for PrEP delivery in South Africa. A combination HIV preventio...
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Open AccessSafe spaces for beneficiaries of a combination HIV prevention intervention for adolescent girls and young women in South Africa: access, feasibility, and acceptability
Safe Spaces are a feature of combination HIV prevention interventions for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa. We investigated whether AGYW at risk for adverse sexual and reproductive healt...
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Open AccessIntersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women
In contexts where poverty and mental health stressors already interact to negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, COVID-19 is likely to have worsened these impacts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ado...
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Open AccessExploring condom use decision-making among adolescents: the synergistic role of affective and rational processes
Condom use remains the most effective behavioural method for the prevention of HIV and unplanned pregnancies. However, condom use remains inconsistent among young people. Exploring the condom use decision-maki...
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Forgoing antiretroviral therapy to evade stigma among people living with HIV, Cape Town, South Africa
Stigma impedes HIV treatment in multiple ways, including diminished engagement in care, refusing ART, and concealing ART to evade stigma. This study disentangled the degree to which intentionally not taking AR...
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Open AccessFrom Survival to Glamour: Motivations for Engaging in Transactional Sex and Relationships Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa
We explored transactional sex and relationships (TSR) among South African adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) using (1) survey data from 4,399 AGYW aged 15–24 years, and (2) qualitative data from 237 AGYW ...
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Open AccessFactors influencing adolescent girls and young women’s participation in a combination HIV prevention intervention in South Africa
For interventions to reach those they are intended for, an understanding of the factors that influence their participation, as well as the facilitators and barriers of participation are needed. This study expl...
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Open Access“As a Young Pregnant Girl… The Challenges You Face”: Exploring the Intersection Between Mental Health and Sexual and Reproductive Health Amongst Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa
In South Africa, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are at risk of poor mental health, HIV infection and early pregnancy. Poor mental health in AGYW is associated with increased sexual risk behaviours, an...
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Article
Open AccessFactors affecting men’s support for the use of the contraceptive implant by their female intimate partners
Family planning services have been available at no cost in the public health settings of South Africa since 1994, and now include the long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) namely, the contraceptive imp...
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Article
Alcohol-related beliefs and non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Cape Town, South Africa
The life-saving effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in treating HIV infection are compromised by alcohol use. A growing body of research shows that both unintentional (e.g., memory lapses) and intentional ...
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Article
Recreational Use of HIV Antiretroviral Medication and Implications for HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and Treatment
Diversion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for recreational use is concerning for countries with high HIV prevalence. This paper presents reports of recreational use of ART among adolescents from two HIV preven...
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Open AccessPerceptions of contraception services among recipients of a combination HIV-prevention interventions for adolescent girls and young women in South Africa: a qualitative study
Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) have high rates of unintended pregnancies and are at higher risk for HIV infection compared to older women of reproductive a...
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Article
Open AccessInforming the measurement of wellbeing among young people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa for policy evaluations: a mixed-methods systematic review
Young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are at high risk of having a poor quality of life. Addressing wellbeing explicitly within HIV/AIDS policies could assist mitigation efforts. Ho...
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Open AccessFeasibility of an HIV self-testing intervention: a formative qualitative study among individuals, community leaders, and HIV testing experts in northern Tanzania
Achieving the 95–95-95 global targets by 2030, innovative HIV testing models, such as HIV self-testing are needed for people, who are unaware of their HIV status. We aimed to explore key informants, mountain c...
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Open AccessA systematic review of qualitative evidence on factors enabling and deterring uptake of HIV self-testing in Africa
More than 40% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa are unaware of their HIV status. HIV self-testing (HIVST) is a novel approach with a potential to increase uptake of HIV testing and linkage to care for people who...
