Social scientists working on finding solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic are frequently enjoined to "demonstrate policy impact". HEARD responds to this call by using the following caveats when designing research projects:

Incorporate practical as well as scientific aims in the design of research projects.

Ensure regular interaction with "policy- / decision-makers" from the design phase onwards.

Recognise that dissemination of results usually is the first step towards finding uses for them, for posing the right questions, and for conducting research that serves practical ends.

"Evidence-informed policy" allows for HIV/AIDS strategies, plans and programmes to shift from being reflex reactions towards more systemic interventions. In turn, longitudinal applied research offers yardsticks for measuring, over time, both the evidence and the interventions.

These injunctions summarise HEARD's intent to inspire health and development strategies that improve the welfare of people in and beyond Africa. In practice, this means creating and making use of opportunities for collaborative thinking through, and developing appropriate solutions for, the complex problem that is HIV/AIDS.

The core funding that HEARD now enjoys has both supported and refined this agenda. Our project work serves two research programmes outlined below, and these programmes guide us towards achieving the goals set out in our business plan for 2006 to 2010:

Systemic Interpretations of the Pandemic and Creating Sustainable Response Systems

The Effects of the Pandemic on Vulnerability in Africa, specifically for Children, Women and Families through which we intend to answer three core questions:

What are the key driving forces behind the pandemic and its various impacts in Africa?

What does "vulnerability" mean?

What would constitute effective and sustainable responses to the pandemic?

The full complement of 2007 projects representing these programmatic themes is available on the HEARD website; this range shows how different projects overlap to fulfil our strategic research aims, and how - irrespective of their location in South Africa or beyond - these projects strive to address regional issues.