Community engagement

This brief provides clear and concise detail about various testing strategies which can be used to ensure efficient case-finding, including index testing, risk network referral, and the enhanced peer outreach approach.

The HIV Prevention Ambassador toolkit includes colorful, 1-page handouts and worksheets in a booklet format that trained HIV Prevention Ambassadors can use to conduct peer support, community discussions, and other activities. The toolkit is designed to accompany the Ambassador Training Package and can be translated into local languages.

The OPTIONS Consortium, in collaboration with Collective Action, has developed an HIV Prevention Ambassador Training Package to support adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) to play a meaningful role in the rollout of oral PrEP in their communities. Through interactive activities, discussion, and action planning, the training prepares Ambassadors to share information with their peers about oral PrEP as part of combination HIV prevention. Ambassadors also gain skills to support peers who are interested in using PrEP and to build community support for AGYW use of oral PrEP. For any Ambassadors who have not been previously trained on sexual and reproductive health and rights, the training also includes foundational sessions on sexual and reproductive health, human rights, gender, violence and HIV transmission.

Rural communities in low- and middle-income countries face specific challenges in accessing health care. And yet, these communities are often the most vulnerable and most in need. So how can we overcome these barriers to provide everyone with the health care they have a right to? How do we maximize the available healthcare resources to effectively address inequalities and ensure sustainable service delivery?

Men's relatively low rates of HIV testing has been termed the 'HIV blind spot' and recently declared by UNAIDS as a top priority. This study uses data from five nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to explore factors associated with men's lifetime HIV testing.