Study of aging population in South Africa finds that HIV viral suppression through ART is leveling the field of healthy longevity

HAALSI men and women

Findings by HAALSI researchers published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, a special issue of conference abstracts, point to similar levels of increased lifespan and “healthspan” among those HIV-positive individuals who achieved viral suppression through ART as observed among HIV-negative individuals.

HAALSI study takes closer look at HIV incidence among older adults in South Africa

Two South African women wearing colorful clothes

While there is much data on the levels of prevalence of HIV among older South Africans, less is known about the risks of older people acquiring HIV. Research from the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) project published in JAIDS finds that there is some risk of acquiring HIV over the age of 50, especially for women.

Despite ART rapidly scaling up, level of knowledge of HIV among general population in sub-Saharan Africa has not

Alexander Tsai, MD, PhD, is co-author of a study published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society that indicates that has been a minimal increase in HIV knowledge across 33 sub-Saharan African countries over time, despite rapid antiretroviral therapy scale-up.

Immediate eligibility of ART lowers household-level incidence of HIV by over 40%

A study finds that early eligibility of antiretroviral therapy substantially lowered HIV incidence among HIV-uninfected household members in rural South Africa. The team of researchers who published the findings includes Harvard Pop Center faculty members Drs. Kenneth Mayer and Till Bärnighausen, as well as visiting scientist Guy Harling.

Receiving antiretroviral therapy for HIV may offer spillover health benefits for at-risk population in South Africa

A team of HAALSI (a research project studying health of aging population in South Africa) researchers affiliated with the Harvard Pop Center has found that HIV-positive adults in South Africa who receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV have greater access to preventative care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and hypertension. Their findings are published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 

Paper by INTREC student selected as Paper of the Month by UNAIDS Science

Sally Mtenga, lead author of a noted paper published in BMJ Sexually Transmitted Infections that explores how long-distance truck drivers and villagers in rural southeastern Tanzania think about heterosexual anal sex, started the paper while receiving training at the Harvard Pop Center as part of the INDEPTH Training and Research Centers of Excellence (INTREC) program.

Low mortality rate at 24 months postpartum among HIV-infected women in Tanzania given ART during pregnancy

Harvard Pop Center Spiegelman Fellow Germana Leyna, MD, has co-authored an article published in BioMed Central that examines virologic and immunologic responses, drug resistance and mortality at 24 months postpartum in women in Tanzania who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) for life late in pregnancy. While virologic and immunologic failure was significantly higher among women who reported non-perfect adherence to ART at month 24, the mortality rate was fairly low.

Recent violence negatively impacts mental health consequences for predisposed women at risk for HIV

Harvard Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society scholar alum and current Harvard Pop Center faculty member Alexander Tsai, MD, is lead author on a paper that investigates association between recent violence and the mental health consequences for women with preexisting psychiatric conditions who are at risk for HIV.

Study finds sexual violence leads to adverse mental health outcomes among HIV-positive women in rural Uganda

Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member Alexander Tsai, MD, PhD, who is also a Harvard RWJF Health & Society Scholar alum, is lead author on the study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Decline in HIV mortality due to antiretroviral treatment not same for all groups in rural South African community

Harvard Pop Center affiliated researchers Kathleen Kahn, PhD, and Stephen Tollman, PhD, and colleagues have published a study in Global Health Action that evaluates the HIV mortality rates on a rural South African community from 2007-2010, when antiretroviral treatment (ART) was rolled out. Factors such as gender, age, location (distance from health center), length of residence, country of origin, transportation ownership, and level of education had an impact on the…