Where are the gaps?: the effects of HIV-prevention interventions on behavioural change

As more funding becomes available for HIV/AIDS programmes in developing countries, an understanding of how prevention interventions lead to behavioural change and how behavioural change leads to reductions in HIV prevalence is crucial. This article in Studies in Family Planning aims to develop a matrix to relate coverage of key HIV/AIDS-prevention services to changes in behavior among different risk groups and to describe the gaps that exist in the literature.

The authors look at a number of gaps shown in this matrix, and ask where research and evaluation should be focused. They conclude that evaluation of interventions targeting abstinence programmes, workplace programmes, and certain groups at high risk of infection would be particularly valuable. Much attention is being paid to abstinence programmes for the young by the current US administration. However, few useful results from existing studies of such interventions are available. National and international organisations are urging companies to implement workplace programmes, although rigorous studies of their effectiveness are also sparse. Finally, interventions targeting sex workers appear to be highly effective: more extensive evaluation of interventions targeting other high-risk groups might persuade policymakers to fund more such interventions. [adapted from author]