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?

Despite public health interventions targeting sex workers in an attempt to increase condom use, HIV still remains a significant health issue for those involved in the sex industry in many countries. In this paper, we analyse data collected as part of an ethnographic study of sex work in Soweto, South Africa.