The Sexual & Reproductive Health
The SRH and MNCH department conducts cutting-edge research to develop and evaluate strategies for improving uptake of evidence-based HIV, SRH and MNCH interventions, including integration of HIV and SRH, family planning, human papillomavirus and cervical cancer prevention, gender and equity and, positive mental health. The department’s initiatives have informed national and international guidelines on HIV prevention, treatment and care. The department portfolio leads are Professor Euphemia Sibanda and Dr Webster Mavhu.
Self-care studies
The portfolio has been at the forefront of conducting research to inform global scale up of self-care. Self-care is defined by WHO as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote their own health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker”. In 2023, as part of the Unitaid-funded Africa, Asia, Americas COVID-19 Preparedness consortium (3ACP), we showed the feasibility and acceptability of self-testing for COVID-19 and community-based self-monitoring for disease progression among sex workers diagnosed with COVID-19.
Separately, in a cluster-randomised trial among students enrolled in colleges/universities, we showed that peer-led delivery of HIV self-tests increased uptake of HIV self-testing, with 30% (95%CI 29.1%-30.8%) uptake in the peer-delivery arm and 20% (19.2%-21.0%) when HIV self-tests were collected from nearby clinics or pharmacies.
We also conducted a UNAIDS-funded pilot of a self-care intervention among students enrolled in colleges/universities. This included peer-led promotion of HIV self-tests, condoms, HIV post-exposure prophylaxis and emergency contraception. We found that the intervention was highly feasible and acceptable, and we have secured funding to conduct a larger evaluation as part of Dr Euphemia Sibanda’s Research Professorship for study titled “Mobile health (mHealth) supported self-care among tertiary education students in Zimbabwe (MASCOT Study).
HIV prevention studies
In 2023, we continued with research to co-develop interventions for improving uptake and continuation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among young people and other populations at risk of HIV infection, including exploring pharmacy-based distribution. These studies are running:
- Pharmacy-based PrEP for Young Women who Sell Sex in Zimbabwe (TOPAZ Study)
- Development of a new PrEP intervention to improve uptake and retention of PrEP among adolescent girls and young women in Zimbabwe (APS Study)
STUDIES WITH ADOLESCENTS
Dr. Zivai Nenguke’s European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) fellowship focusing on ‘Ufidetectable=Ufitrafismittable’ (U=U) messaging among adolescents living with HIV continued in 2023 in six sites.
Dr. Webster Mavhu continued with his study funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation exploring Zvandiri (As I am) Character Strengths among adolescents living with HIV. Three abstracts were presented at AIDSImpact 2023 (Stockholm, June); IAS 2023 (Brisbane, July) and ICASA 2023 (Harare, December).
Dr. Webster Mavhu’s Intermediate Fellowship work on research to promote positive masculinity and sexual health among very young adolescents in Zimbabwe (funded through a NIHR-Wellcome Trust partnership) continued, including co-developing a prototype intervention.