Women

Health care providers have great potential to be powerful change agents.

Introduction

The National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs (NSP) 2017-2022 Mid Term Review (MTR) was an in-depth analysis of the NSP implementation, with the aim to illustrate progress made towards reaching the NSP targets across the eight NSP goals.

Under level 5 and 4 of South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown regulations adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 14 to 24 years could not meet face-to-face in specially created safe spaces with counsellors, as part of a combination HIV intervention programme.

The Cape Town Metropolitan area, where mothers2mothers (m2m) is headquartered, is the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Background:

A pivotal clinical trial to address a long-standing question about the relationship between hormonal contraceptive use and the risk of HIV acquisition has found no substantial difference in HIV risk among 7,829 African women who were randomly assigned to use one of three highly effective methods

According to the recent Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes Study (ECHO) (Box 1) (1), the incidence of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high among adolescent girls and women in parts of East and Southern Africa.

The rise in the global female prison population, women’s unique vulnerabilities to HIV infection and insufficient provision and inequitable access to HIV services places the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in prisons high on the agenda of HIV prevention among key populations.

This publication marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.