Understanding the role of intimate partner violence on HIV transmission in Zimbabwe: Secondary data analysis of data from the Zimbabwe demographic survey 2015-2016.

Background: Gender-based violence (GBV) has been shown to have significant and long-lasting impacts on women's physical and mental health. It is, therefore, important to study its occurrence in a population and its intersect with infectious diseases such as HIV to inform the wider health promotion agenda. This study aimed to determine the association between GBV and HIV status in women and adolescent girls in Zimbabwe.

HIV status, knowledge and prevention of cervical cancer amongst adolescent girls and women: a secondary data analysis.

Introduction: the objective of this manuscript was to describe the knowledge profiles and determinants of cervical cancer screening among HIV positive and negative adolescent girls and women in Zimbabwe.

Methods: we conducted secondary statistical data analysis to explore the determinants of cervical cancer screening among HIV positive and negative adolescent girls and women using Zimbabwe Demographic Health survey for 2015-16.

Results: a total of 9054 adolescent girls aged 15-19, and women aged 20-49 were included in the analysis and the majority (63%) of them resided in rural areas.

Diverse experts' perspectives on ethical issues of using machine learning to predict HIV/AIDS risk in sub-Saharan Africa: a modified Delphi study.

Objective: To better understand diverse experts' views about the ethical implications of ongoing research funded by the National Institutes of Health that uses machine learning to predict HIV/AIDS risk in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) based on publicly available Demographic and Health Surveys data.

Design: Three rounds of semi-structured surveys in an online expert panel using a modified Delphi approach.

Participants: Experts in informatics, African public health and HIV/AIDS and bioethics were invited to participate.

Understanding HIV and associated risk factors among religious groups in Zimbabwe.

Background: The influence of religion and belief systems is widely recognized as an important factor in understanding of health risk perception and myths in the general fight against the HIV pandemic. This study compares the understanding of HIV risk factors and utilization of some HIV services among religious groups in Zimbabwe.

Methods: We conducted secondary data statistical analysis to investigate the understanding of HIV and associated risk factors among religious groups in Zimbabwe using 2015-2016 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) data.

Safeguarding gains in the sexual and reproductive health and AIDS response amidst COVID-19: The role of African civil society.

This article outlines the role of African civil society in safeguarding gains registered to date in sexual and reproductive health and the response to HIV. The case is made for why civil society organizations (CSOs) must be engaged vigilantly in the COVID-19 response in Africa. Lockdown disruptions and the rerouting of health funds to the pandemic have impeded access to essential sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and social protection services.

Ethical issues associated with HIV molecular epidemiology: a qualitative exploratory study using inductive analytic approaches.

Background: HIV molecular epidemiology is increasingly recognized as a vital source of information for understanding HIV transmission dynamics. Despite extensive use of these data-intensive techniques in both research and public health settings, the ethical issues associated with this science have received minimal attention. As the discipline evolves, there is reasonable concern that existing ethical and legal frameworks and standards might lag behind the rapid methodological developments in this field.

Point of care Xpert MTB/RIF versus smear microscopy for tuberculosis diagnosis in southern African primary care clinics: a multicentre economic evaluation.

Background: Rapid on-site diagnosis facilitates tuberculosis control. Performing Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) at point of care is feasible, even when performed by minimally trained health-care workers, and when compared with point-of-care smear microscopy, reduces time to diagnosis and pretreatment loss to follow-up. However, whether Xpert is cost-effective at point of care remains unclear.

Experts' Perspectives on Key Ethical Issues Associated With HIV Phylogenetics as Applied in HIV Transmission Dynamics Research.

The use of phylogenetics in HIV molecular epidemiology has considerably increased our ability to understand the origin, spread, and characteristics of HIV epidemics. Despite its potential to advance knowledge on HIV transmission dynamics, the ethical issues associated with HIV molecular epidemiology have received minimal attention. In-depth interviews were conducted with scientists from diverse backgrounds to explore their perspectives on ethical issues associated with phylogenetic analysis of HIV genetic data as applied to HIV transmission dynamics studies.

Tuberculosis knowledge, misconceptions/myths in adults: findings from Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Zambia Demographic Health Surveys (2013-2016).

Objective: To determine TB knowledge and misconceptions/myths amongst HIV positive and negative adults using Demographic Health Survey data from Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Zambia.

Results: Overall 97% (n = 58,107) of both male and female respondents irrespective of their HIV status had heard of tuberculosis out of whom 82.6% knew that it can be cured.

Association between alcohol use and HIV status: findings from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Objective: To conduct statistical analysis to assess the association between alcohol use and HIV status using Demographic Health Survey data from Zambia (2013-2014) and Zimbabwe (2015-2016).

Results: The study showed an association between alcohol use and HIV status using nationally representative population-based surveys. The surveys were conducted among men (15-54 years) and women (15-49 years) in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 in Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively.

Ethical issues associated with HIV phylogenetics in HIV transmission dynamics research: A review of the literature using the Emanuel Framework.

The reduced costs of DNA sequencing and the use of such data for HIV-1 clinical management and phylogenetic analysis have led to a massive increase of HIV-1 sequences in the last few years. Phylogenetic analysis has shed light on the origin, spread and characteristics of HIV-1 epidemics and outbreaks. Phylogenetic analysis is now also being used to advance our knowledge of the drivers of HIV-1 transmission in order to design effective interventions.