BACKGROUND Vertical HIV programs have achieved good results but may not be feasible or appropriate in many resource-limited settings. Médecins sans Frontières has treated HIV in vertical programs since 2000 and over time integrated HIV treatment into general health care services using simplified protocols. We analyzed the survival probability among patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART...

Early in the epidemic, HIV infection and AIDS were diagnosed among relatively few women and female adolescents. Currently, women account for more than 25% of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the U.S. Heterosexually acquired HIV/AIDS is the predominant route of transmission for African American women. Among African American women diagnosed with HIV/AIDS during 2001–2004, 78% contracted the infectio...

BACKGROUND To examine the predictors of continued drug- and sex-related HIV-risk behaviors among drug users in methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) programs in China. METHODS We followed a sample of 5,035 drug users enrolled for the first time in MMT programs at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months utilizing a longitudinal prospective study design. Drug users' HIV-risk behaviors, MMT characterist...

BACKGROUND Vertically oriented global health initiatives (GHIs) addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), have successfully contributed to reducing HIV/AIDS related morbidity and mortality. However, there is still debate about whether these disease-specific programs have improved or harmed health systems overall, especially with respect...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the population effects of potential preventive and therapeutic vaccines in early- and late-stage epidemics in a population of homosexual men. METHODS An epidemic model was used that simulated the course of the epidemic for a population of homosexual men in San Francisco, California. Vaccine programs were evaluated by the number of cases of HIV averted, the effect on the ...

the south pacific countries of vanuatu, samoa, and papua new guinea have ascended rapidly up the development spectrum in recent years, refining an independent and post-colonial economic and political identity that enhances their recognition on the world stage. all three countries have overcome economic, political and public health challenges in order to stake their claim to sovereignty. in this...

BACKGROUND Many countries have created community-based health worker (CHW) programs for HIV. In most of these countries, several national and non-governmental initiatives have been implemented raising questions of how well these different approaches address the health problems and use health resources in a compatible way. While these questions have led to a general policy initiative to promote ...

PURPOSE Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome surveillance data are critical for monitoring epidemic trends, but they can mask dynamic subepidemics, especially in vulnerable populations that underuse HIV testing. In this case study, we describe community-based epidemiologic data among injection drug users (IDUs) and female sex workers (FSWs) in two northern Mexic...

BACKGROUND In the absence of stand-alone infrastructures for delivering cervical cancer screening services, efforts are underway in sub-Saharan Africa to dovetail screening with ongoing vertical health initiatives like HIV/AIDS care programs. Yet, evidence demonstrating the utilization of cervical cancer prevention services in such integrated programs by women of the general population is lacki...