A study just out in the Journal of Hypertension co-authored by Harvard Pop Center faculty members Stephen Tollman, Till Bärnighausen, Joshua Salomon, and Bell Fellow Xavier Gomez-Olive points to the potential effectiveness of a local, long-term health surveillance program for managing hypertension, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The results of the study shed light on which members of the population should be receiving even more attention.
In South Africa, $5 food voucher linked to increase in HIV testing rate
A study by former Harvard fellow Mark McGovern, PhD, along with faculty members David Canning, PhD, and Till Bärnighausen, PhD, and colleagues, has found that efforts to scale up HIV testing through home-based testing are supported by offering a $5 dollar (US) food voucher to residents in South Africa.
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.
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.
Scaling up male circumcision in Sub-Saharan Africa could prevent more than 1 million HIV infections
Harvard Pop Center faculty members Till Bärnighausen, ScD, MD, PhD, and David Bloom, PhD, are co-authors of a new paper written for the 2015 Copenhagen Consensus that touts scaling up male circumcision to include 90% of Sub-Saharan males who are not HIV infected as a way to cost-effectively and dramatically reduce HIV infections. The findings of the paper, which also include expanding anti-retroviral treatment (ART), are featured in a news story…
How can you statistically correct for missing data and selection bias in HIV prevalence estimates?
Missing data is a common problem in HIV research due to non-participation in testing, and selection bias can occur if non-participation in testing is associated with HIV status. For example, longitudinal data suggests that individuals who know or suspect that they are HIV positive are less likely to participate in HIV surveys. Four researchers from Harvard Pop Center, including Mark McGovern, PhD, Till Bärnighausen, MD, Joshua Salomon, PhD, and David Canning,…
Applying regression discontinuity in epidemiology; a study on when to start HIV treatment
Harvard Pop Center faculty member Till Bärnighausen, MD, has co-authored an article published in Epidemiology in response to a commentary on their previous study that explores applying regression discontinuity designs in epidemiology published in the September issue of the journal.
New approach for estimating HIV prevalence
Harvard Pop Center PGDA Fellow Mark McGovern, PhD, and faculty member Till Bärnighausen, MD, have co-authored a study published in Epidemiology that explores the usefulness of applying copula functions to the more standard selection model in order to more accurately evaluate HIV prevalence estimates.
Are older sexual partners a major risk factor for HIV for young women in sub-Saharan Africa?
Although it is commonly thought that older sexual partners are a major risk factor for HIV for young women in sub-Saharan Africa (and there have been public health campaigns launched to discourage these relationships) in a recent study co-authored by Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty members Ichiro Kawachi, SV Subramanian, and Till Bärnighausen partner age-disparity did not predict HIV acquisition amongst young women.
Till Bärnighausen co-authors paper on understanding and validating measures of governments’ political commitment to HIV
Pop Center faculty member Dr. Till Bärnighausen has co-authored a paper in Global Public Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice entitled “Bringing the state back in: Understanding and validating measures of governments’ political commitment to HIV.”