Best Evidence Structural Interventions For Hiv Prevention

​​​​ ​ Providing detailed information on structural HIV prevention interventions, this book is intended for health care practitioners and researchers to plan, implement, and evaluate such interventions in their own communities. As defined by the CDC, structural interventions focus on the physical, social, cultural, political, economic, legal, and/or policy aspects of the environment. Designed to reach a large number of individuals, structural interventions usually occur across entire communities, cities, or countries. As a result, the resources required to initiate structural interventions can far exceed those required for smaller-scale behavioral programs. However, changes from structural interventions have the potential to last over time, even after the programs have ended, resulting in effective use of public and private prevention resources.​ Because the reach of structural interventions is typically larger than that of individual- or group-focused interventions (for example, the 100% Condom Use Program, which was implemented countrywide in Thailand), their influence may be equally—if not more—significant.This book is a resource for health practitioners, educators, and researchers who seek HIV/AIDS structural prevention programs that have been shown to be effective in their regions or for their target populations (e.g. injection drug users, commercial sex workers, or the general public). With extensive case studies, the book classifies interventions according to the desired outcomes (specific behavior or policy changes) so that the reader may focus on examples of programs with similar goals and target populations to their own. Addresses the quintessential public health ethical dilemma regarding which types of environmental changes should be mandatory via legislation and which should be voluntary, promoted via programmatic, practice, and policy change. ​

A COMPREHENSIVE NEW REFERENCE WORK ON STRUCTURAL APPROACHES TO PREVENTING HIV Structural interventions -- changes to environment aimed at influencing health behaviors -- are the most universal and cost-effective tool in preventing new incidences of HIV. They are not easy to get right, however. Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention offers an authoritative reference for both understanding these programs and instituting them to greatest effect. Whether through changes to policy, environment, social/community norms, or a combination of each, this volume offers actionable and attainable blueprints to creating and evaluating programs in any setting or country. It is an essential resource for researchers and practitioners in the continuing fights against HIV.

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.

One in five people in the United States had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) on any given day in 2018, totaling nearly 68 million estimated infections. STIs are often asymptomatic (especially in women) and are therefore often undiagnosed and unreported. Untreated STIs can have severe health consequences, including chronic pelvic pain, infertility, miscarriage or newborn death, and increased risk of HIV infection, genital and oral cancers, neurological and rheumatological effects. In light of this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through the National Association of County and City Health Officials, commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to examine the prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections in the United States and provide recommendations for action. In 1997, the Institute of Medicine released a report, The Hidden Epidemic: Confronting Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Although significant scientific advances have been made since that time, many of the problems and barriers described in that report persist today; STIs remain an underfunded and comparatively neglected field of public health practice and research. The committee reviewed the current state of STIs in the United States, and the resulting report, Sexually Transmitted Infections: Advancing a Sexual Health Paradigm, provides advice on future public health programs, policy, and research.

The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to affect all facets of life throughout the subcontinent. Deaths related to AIDS have driven down the life expectancy rate of residents in Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda with far-reaching implications. This book details the current state of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and what is known about the behaviors that contribute to the transmission of the HIV infection. It lays out what research is needed and what is necessary to design more effective prevention programs.

Among U. S. racial and ethnic minority populations, African American communities are the most disproportionately impacted and affected by HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2009; CDC, 2008). The chapters in this volume seek to explore factors that contribute to this disparity as well as methods for intervening and positively impacting the e- demic in the U. S. The book is divided into two sections. The first section includes chapters that explore specific contextual and structural factors related to HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention in African Americans. The second section is composed of chapters that address the latest in intervention strategies, including best-evidence and promising-evidence based behavioral interventions, program evaluation, cost effectiveness analyses and HIV testing and counseling. As background for the book, the Introduction provides a summary of the context and importance of other infectious disease rates, (i. e. , sexually transmitted diseases [STDs] and tubercu- sis), to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in African Americans and a brief introductory discussion on the major contextual factors related to the acquisition and transmission of STDs/HIV. Contextual Chapters Johnson & Dean author the first chapter in this section, which discusses the history and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among African Americans. Specifically, this ch- ter provides a definition for and description of the US surveillance systems used to track HIV/AIDS and presents data on HIV or AIDS cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2006 and reported to CDC as of June 30, 2007.

Much has happened since the first appearance of AIDS in 1981: it has been identified, studied, and occasionally denied. The virus has shifted host populations and spread globally. Medicine, the social sciences, and world governments have joined forces to combat and prevent the disease. And South Africa has emerged as ground zero for the pandemic. The editors of HIV/AIDS in South Africa 25 Years On present the South African crisis as a template for addressing the myriad issues surrounding the epidemic worldwide, as the book brings together a widely scattered body of literature, analyzes psychosocial and sexual aspects contributing to HIV transmission and prevention, and delves into complex intersections of race, gender, class, and politics. Including largely overlooked populations and issues (e.g., prisoners, persons with disabilities, stigma), as well as challenges shaping future research and policy, the contributors approach their topics with rare depth, meticulous research, carefully drawn conclusions, and profound compassion. Among the topics covered: The relationship between HIV and poverty, starting from the question, "Which is the determinant and which is the consequence?" Epidemiology of HIV among women and men: concepts of femininity and masculinity, and gender inequities as they affect HIV risk; gender-specific prevention and intervention strategies. The impact of AIDS on infants and young children: risk and protective factors; care of children by HIV-positive mothers; HIV-infected children. Current prevention and treatment projects, including local-level responses, community-based work, and VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) programs. New directions: promoting circumcision, vaccine trials, "positive prevention." South Africa’s history of AIDS denialism. The urgent lessons in this book apply both globally and locally, making HIV/AIDS in South Africa 25 Years On uniquely instructive and useful for professionals working in HIV/AIDS and global public health.