Threefold Increases in Population HIV Viral Load Suppression Among Men and Young Adults - Bukoba Municipal Council, Tanzania, 2014-2017.

Reducing HIV-related morbidity and mortality, and effectively eliminating HIV transmission risk, depends on use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to achieve and maintain viral load suppression (VLS)* (1,2). By 2020, sub-Saharan African countries are working to achieve VLS among 90% of persons using ART and 73% of all persons living with HIV infection (1). In Tanzania, a country with 1.4 million persons with HIV infection, 49.6% of HIV-positive persons aged 15-49 years had achieved VLS in 2017, including only 21.5% of men and 44.6% of women aged 25-29 years (3). To identify interventions that might increase VLS in Tanzania, and reduce VLS-associated sex and age-group disparities, the Bukoba Combination Prevention Evaluation (BCPE) scaled up new HIV testing, linkage to care, and retention on ART interventions throughout Bukoba Municipal Council (Bukoba), Tanzania, during October 2014-March 2017 (4,5). Located on the western shore of Lake Victoria, Bukoba is a mixed urban and rural municipality of 150,000 persons and capital of Kagera Region. Of the 31 regions of Tanzania, Kagera has the fourth highest prevalence of HIV infection (6.8%) among residents aged 15-49 years (3). CDC analyzed data from BCPE preintervention and postintervention surveys and found that VLS prevalence among HIV-positive Bukoba residents aged 18-49 years increased approximately twofold overall (from 28.6% to 64.8%) and among women (33.3% to 67.8%) and approximately threefold among men (20.5% to 59.1%) and young adults aged 18-29 years (15.6% to 56.7%). During 2017, BCPE facility-based testing and linkage interventions were approved as new service delivery models by the Tanzania Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (4,5). After a successful rollout to 208 facilities in 11 regions in 2018, BCPE interventions are being scaled up in all regions of Tanzania in 2019 with support from the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).†.

Formative Work and Community Engagement Approaches for Implementing an HIV Intervention in Botswana Schools.

Providing adolescents with evidence-based sexual risk reduction interventions is critical to addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Project AIM (Adult Identity Mentoring) is an innovative, evidence-based, youth development intervention that is being evaluated for the first time in Botswana through a 3-year (2015-2017), 50-school cluster randomized controlled trial, including testing for herpes simplex virus type 2 as a sexual activity biomarker. Conducting a trial of this magnitude requires the support and collaboration of government and community stakeholders. All school staff, including teachers, must be well informed about the study; dedicated staff placed at each school can help to improve school and community familiarity with the study, improve the information flow, and relieve some of the burden study activities places on schools.

Understanding Gender-Based Violence Service Delivery in CDC-Supported Health Facilities: 15 Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2017-2021.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a complex issue deeply rooted in social structures, making its eradication challenging. GBV increases the risk of HIV transmission and is a barrier to HIV testing, care, and treatment. Quality clinical services for GBV, which includes the provision of HIV postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), vary, and service delivery data are lacking. We describe GBV clinical service delivery in 15 countries supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Through a descriptive statistical analysis of PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting (MER) data, we found a 252% increase in individuals receiving GBV clinical services, from 158,691 in 2017 to 558,251 in 2021. PEP completion was lowest (15%) among 15-19-year-olds. Understanding GBV service delivery is important for policy makers, program managers, and providers to guide interventions to improve the quality of service delivery and contribute to HIV epidemic control.

Parents' reactions to testing for herpes simplex virus type 2 as a biomarker of sexual activity in Botswana junior secondary school students.

UNLABELLED: Background Use of sexual activity biomarkers in HIV prevention trials has been widely supported to validate self-reported data. When such trials involve minors, researchers may face challenges in obtaining parental buy-in, especially if return of results procedures uphold the confidentiality and privacy rights of minors and preclude parental access to test results. In preparation for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with junior secondary school (JSS) students in Botswana, a formative assessment was conducted to assess parents' opinions and concerns about testing for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) (biomarker of sexual activity) as part of the RCT. METHODS: Six focus groups were held with parents (n=32) of JSS students from urban, peri-urban and rural communities. Parents were asked their opinions of students being tested for HSV-2 and procedures for blood sample collection and return of results. RESULTS: Overall, parents were supportive of HSV-2 testing, which they thought was a beneficial sexual health resource for adolescents and parents, and a motivation for parent-child communication about HSV-2, sexual activity and sexual abuse. Some parents supported the proposed plan to disclose HSV-2 test results to adolescents only, citing the importance of adolescent privacy and the possibility of HSV-2 positive adolescents being stigmatised by family members. Conversely, opposing parents requested parental access to results. These parents were concerned that adolescents may experience distress following a positive result and withhold this information thereby reducing parents' abilities to provide support. Parents were also concerned about support for victims of sexual abuse. CONCLUSION: Although the present study demonstrates that parents can be accepting of sexual activity biomarker testing of adolescents, more research is needed to identify best approaches for returning test results.