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Are circumcised men safer sex partners? Findings from the HAALSI cohort in rural South Africa

Older man in South Africa sitting in a field

Not necessarily, finds a study published in PLoS ONE by a team of researchers affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI). Older men who were circumcised in a hospital setting (as opposed to initiation-based circumcision) had higher HIV prevalence than uncircumcised men. Former Harvard Bell Fellow and HAALSI researcher Molly Rosenberg explains in this article in the South African publication Business Day that…

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In South Africa, when HIV testing is not always possible, is self-reported status a viable, reliable alternative?

An older South African man and a healthcare worker do an intake sitting outside in rural South Africa

A team of researchers affiliated with the Harvard Pop Center and the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) has found that the self-reported HIV status of older adults was accurate enough that it could be considered as a routine first step to establish HIV status when testing is not possible. The study was published in JIAS (Journal of the International Aids…

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HIV prevention initiatives needed targeting those 40 years & older in rural South Africa

A study published in JAIDS (Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes) by a team of HAALSI (Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa) researchers examines whether older adults in rural South Africa have unmet needs for HIV prevention.

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Using cash transfers to reduce HIV risk in young South African women

Bell Fellows Molly Rosenberg and Xavier Gomez-Olives have contributed to a paper looking at a phase III, individually randomized trial to assess the effect of a conditional cash transfer on HIV acquisition among South African young women. The study has found that interventions like cash transfers that address structural factors such as schooling and poverty have the potential to reduce HIV risk in young women in South Africa. The paper’s…

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Deepening our understanding of how cash transfer programs can lower risk of HIV among adolescents in Africa

Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Molly Rosenberg, PhD, is an author on a paper published in Global Public Health that explores how cash transfer programs may work to delay sexual debut among Kenyan adolescents. The study explores three pathways in particular, including schooling, socio-economic status, and psycho-social status.

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In South Africa, child support grants not found to incentivize having more children

Harvard Bell Fellow Molly Rosenberg, PhD, is lead author on a paper published in PLOS One that examines how receiving a social protection grant may influence fertility. Exposure to a child support grant was not found to incentivize pregnancy, however, it could result in longer spacing between pregnancies. Harvard Pop Center faculty members Till Bärnighausen, Kathleen Kahn, and Stephen Tollman are also authors on the paper.

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Frequenting bars associated with increased sexual & HIV risk, & HSV-2 infection among South African young women

Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Molly Rosenberg, PhD, and Pop Center faculty member Kathleen Kahn, PhD, are co-authors of a study published in PLoS One that found that for young South African women, there was an association between visiting bars, especially when alcohol was consumed, and having more sexual partners, unprotected sex, transactional sex, and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) infection.  The study suggests that sexual health interventions targeted…

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Living in communities with more bars puts young South African women at increased risk for Herpes Simplex 2

Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Molly Rosenberg, PhD, is lead author of a study published in journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases that examines whether living in communities with more alcohol outlets is associated with increased prevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) infection among young women living in South African villages. Pop Center faculty members Stephen Tollman, PhD, and Kathleen Kahn, PhD, are also authors on the paper.

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Dropping out of school puts South African youth at increased risk for teen pregnancy

Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Molly Rosenberg, PhD, is lead author on a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology that examines whether teen pregnancy is associated with school enrollment in South Africa. Pop Center faculty members Kathleen Kahn, PhD, and Stephen Tollman, PhD, are also authors on the paper.