How, when and where? A systematic review on abortion decision making in legally restricted settings in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Background: With increasing global availability of medication abortion drugs, a safer option exists for many women to terminate a pregnancy even in legally restrictive settings. However, more than 22,000 women die each year from unsafe abortion, most often in developing countries where abortion is highly legally restricted. We conducted a systematic review to compile existing evidence regarding factors that influence women's abortion-related decision making in countries where abortion is highly legally restricted.

The effect of universal testing and treatment on HIV stigma in 21 communities in Zambia and South Africa.

Objectives: To assess the impact of a combination HIV prevention intervention including universal testing and treatment (UTT) on HIV stigma among people living with HIV, and among community members and health workers not living with HIV.

Design: This HIV stigma study was nested in the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial, a three-arm cluster randomised trial conducted between 2013 and 2018 in 21 urban/peri-urban communities (12 in Zambia and nine in South Africa).

Methods: Using an adjusted two-stage cluster-level analysis, controlling for baseline imbalances, we compared multiple domains of stigma between the trial arms at 36 months.

Development of parallel measures to assess HIV stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV, community members and health workers in the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial in Zambia and South Africa.

Introduction: Integrating standardized measures of HIV stigma and discrimination into research studies of emerging HIV prevention approaches could enhance uptake and retention of these approaches, and care and treatment for people living with HIV (PLHIV), by informing stigma mitigation strategies. We sought to develop a succinct set of measures to capture key domains of stigma for use in research on HIV prevention technologies.

Methods: From 2013 to 2015, we collected baseline data on HIV stigma from three populations (PLHIV (N = 4053), community members (N = 5782) and health workers (N = 1560)) in 21 study communities in South Africa and Zambia participating in the HPTN 071 (PopART) cluster-randomized trial.

Measuring Social Norms Related to Child Marriage Among Adult Decision-Makers of Young Girls in Phalombe and Thyolo, Malawi.

Purpose: Given the importance of developing appropriate measures for assessing social norm change, this article documents the process, results, and lessons learned from a baseline survey measuring social norms related to child marriage in Phalombe and Thyolo districts in Southern Malawi.

Methods: A quantitative questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of all adults (age ≥18 years) who self-identified as a decision-maker for at least one girl between the ages of 10 and 17 years, for a total sample size of 1,492 respondents. Measures of empirical expectations, normative expectations, and sanctions related to child marriage were modeled after previously developed measures and social norm theory.

The influence of caregiver depression on adolescent mental health outcomes: findings from refugee settlements in Uganda.

Background: Family-level predictors, including caregiver depression, are considered important influences on adolescent mental health. Adolescent depression and anxiety in refugee settings is known to be a significant public health concern, yet there is very limited literature from humanitarian settings focusing on the relationship between caregiver mental health and adolescent mental health. In the context of a larger study on child protection outcomes in refugee settings, researchers explored the relationship between caregiver depression and adolescent mental health in two refugee settlements, Kiryandongo and Adjumani, in Uganda.

New Findings on Child Marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite increasing global attention and commitments by countries to end the harmful practice of child marriage, each year some 15 million girls marry before the age of 18. The preponderance of the evidence produced historically on child marriage comes from South Asia, where the vast majority of child brides live. Far less attention has been paid to child marriage in sub-Saharan Africa, where prevalence rates remain high.

The Associations of Perceived Social Support with Key HIV Risk and Protective Factors Among Young Males Who Have Sex with Males in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand.

This study used respondent-driven sampling to explore the effects of social support on HIV risk and protective factors among young males who have sex with males (YMSM) in Bangkok (N = 273) and Chiang Mai (N = 243), Thailand. It compared different measures of social support, including living situation, the proportion of family and friends to whom the respondent had disclosed their same-sex attraction, and scores on the multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support as predictors of two outcomes of interest-coerced first sex and HIV knowledge. Social support from family played a mediating role in both outcomes among YMSM in Bangkok but not those from Chiang Mai.

Correlates of Forced Sex Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men in Yangon and Monywa, Myanmar.

Forced sex at an early age is associated with a variety of negative factors including increased illness, high-risk sexual and substance-use behaviors, and mental and psychological stress. These sequelae may be compounded for men who have sex with men (MSM), especially young MSM and those with feminine gender identity and expression. This survey examined the prevalence and associations of forced sex among young MSM in two cities in Myanmar.

Recent HIV Testing Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men in Bangkok and Chiang Mai: HIV Testing and Prevention Strategies Must Be Enhanced in Thailand.

HIV infection among men who have sex with men, particularly in Thai urban settings and among younger cohorts, is escalating. HIV testing and counseling (HTC) are important for prevention and obtaining treatment and care. We examine data from a 2013 survey of males, 15-24 years, reporting past-year sex with a male and living in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

A simple spatiotemporal rabies model for skunk and bat interaction in northeast Texas.

We formulate a simple partial differential equation model in an effort to qualitatively reproduce the spread dynamics and spatial pattern of rabies in northeast Texas with overlapping reservoir species (skunks and bats). Most existing models ignore reservoir species or model them with patchy models by ordinary differential equations. In our model, we incorporate interspecies rabies infection in addition to rabid population random movement.