01.12.2015
Prof Nana Poku | HEARD's Executive Director
The UNAIDS Fast-Tracking to Zero Strategy is on its own a large and rightly ambitious undertaking, building on the success of the fifteen-year span of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). MDG 6 was closely related to, and broadly consonant with the other MDGs, especially with respect to the health and well-being of women and girls. It is important that the headline statistics from the conclusion of MDG6 receive the widest possible circulation; and expressions of satisfaction and gratitude not only have their place bu...
05.09.2015
With the demand to remain relevant in a changing global health development environment, HEARD has undergone some essential organisational changes. We have a new mission – to be the leading institution in interdisciplinary health research and education in Africa, in order to influence policy and practice to more effectively address Africa’s health challenges. In order to achieve this goal, we’ve expanded and refined our research agenda, focus areas, policy engagements as an applied research centre.
Our dynamic research agenda and change in focus are outlined...
01.09.2015
This week, health economics researcher Mike Strauss, discusses the importance of understanding and creating demand for healthcare services, especially in the context of scaling up HIV prevention and treatment interventions in South Africa.
The talk will draw on evidence from a discrete choice experiment to determine preferences regarding HIV counselling and testing, and medical male circumcision among adolescents in high schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Click here for more information.
About the series: Each week a public talk will be delivered by influential...
24.07.2015
29% of adolescents who were previously sexually active resumed sexual activity during the healing period, had on average two partners and during the healing period used condoms inconsistently
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is an integral part of the South African government’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Following circumcision, it is recommended that patients abstain from sexual activity for six weeks, as sex may increase the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission and prolong the healing period.
From 2011-2013, HEARD undertook a study, ...
14.07.2015
We have recently seen a spurt of advances in biomedical HIV prevention research. These interventions include circumcision, vaccines, microbicides, pre-exposure prophylaxis and suppressive therapy for herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) to reduce risks of HIV transmission through sexual intercourse. While these new technologies provide a variety of prevention options, the clinical trial data has been less than promising (with the exception of medical male circumcision - as demonstrated in the three African randomised controlled trials.) This pattern of flat trials was p...
04.06.2015
In subSaharan Africa urban informal settlements are growing rapidly with an estimated 70% of residents in cities living in these spaces. Residents of informal settlements are very vulnerable to poor health, with studies showing high HIVincidence and genderbased violence. Interventions to prevent HIV and genderbased violence in informal settlements are needed, but only a limited number have been designed for this particular environment.
HEARD researchers investigated whether combining a broad economic empowerment intervention Creating Futures, togethe...
04.06.2015
Ahead of the 21st International AIDS Conference (IAC) to be held in Durban, South Africa, in July 2016, HEARD, in partnership with UNAIDS, UNDP, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the World Bank and the Southern African AIDS Trust, is seeking innovative contributions to a book project on ‘Prevention’. Click here for more information.
04.06.2015
Are you a public health practitioner, or a student/researcher in the field of health science, medicine or public health? Call for submissions for the Health Systems Trust 2015 Emerging Public Health Practitioner Award are now open to those looking to publish a paper dealing with public health or policy in a respected and widely read South African peerreviewed journal. The successful candidate will have their paper published in the 2015 edition of the South African Health Review (SAHR). Additionally, the winner will receive a cash prize and an opportunity to...
14.03.2015
With the aim of advancing health research capabilities in the region, HEARD is pleased to welcome three leading experts – Dr Jim Whitman, Sisonke Msimang and Dr Antonieta Lara-Medina - to senior positions in the organisation.
Prof Jim Whitman a former Professor of Global Governance in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, UK, joins HEARD to serve as Visiting Professor for the next two years. He will be assisting with the establishment of the HEARD PhD Scholarship Programme and teaching, with a view to helping students refine their res...
02.12.2014
It’s been 10 years since the World AIDS Day theme focused on women and girls, but what progress have we made in reducing the burden of HIV amongst this population? Leading up to World AIDS Day, HEARD, in collaboration with CAPRISA, the South African Medical Research Council, K-Rith, Health Systems Trust and the University of KwaZulu-Natal hosted a panel discussion focusing on women, girls and HIV.
The aim of the discussion was to discuss different challenges women and girls face drawing from biomedical science, social and behavioural studies, alongside com...
