Social, Structural and Behavioral Interventions for HIV Prevention

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Evidence-based and -informed social, structural, and behavioral interventions have great potential to further reduce HIV transmission and synergistically improve the acceptability, adoption, persistence, feasibility, appropriateness, penetration, and fidelity of social, behavioral, and biomedical interventions including PrEP, PEP, and Treatment as Prevention (TasP). Biobehavioral interventions that combine social and medical prevention approaches have a critical role in ending the HIV epidemic. The scaling up of these tools has not produced sufficient declines in HIV incidence to reach global prevention targets, in part due to social, behavioral, implementation, and structural barriers that prevent available services from reaching populations who could benefit from them. More work is needed to improve health equity and to ensure that these tools effectively reach the key populations most impacted by HIV, including gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM); people of transgender experience; people involved in the sex trade; people who inject drugs; and people living with HIV. Racism, sexism, transphobia, lack of economic opportunities, and other social injustices continue to present barriers to ending the HIV epidemic. Papers addressing these topics, from a range of country and regional contexts globally, are invited for this Topic and may include quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods original research on intervention development, adaptation, implementation, evaluation, and/or outcomes.

Prof. Dr. Greg Rebchook
Prof. Dr. Susan Kegeles
Dr. Sophia Zamudio-Haas
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ijerph	-	8.5	2004	27.8 Days	CHF 2500	Submit
Behavioral Sciences behavsci	2.5	3.1	2011	29.6 Days	CHF 2200	Submit
Sexes sexes	0.9	-	2020	36.3 Days	CHF 1200	Submit
Social Sciences socsci	1.7	3.1	2012	34.5 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Psychology International psycholint	-	-	2019	18.7 Days	CHF 1200	Submit

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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All IJERPH Behavioral Sciences Sexes Social Sciences Psychology International

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Open AccessSystematic Review

Tracking HIV Outcomes Among Key Populations in the Routine Health Information Management System: A Systematic Review

by Mashudu Rampilo, Edith Phalane and Refilwe Nancy Phaswana-Mafuya

Sexes 2025, 6(3), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes6030032 - 25 Jun 2025

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Abstract

Despite having the world’s largest HIV burden, South Africa has yet to attain the 95-95-95 targets. Accurate, complete, and timely data are critical for monitoring a country’s HIV progress. The integration of unique identifier codes (UICs) for key populations (KPs) into routine health [...] Read more.

Despite having the world’s largest HIV burden, South Africa has yet to attain the 95-95-95 targets. Accurate, complete, and timely data are critical for monitoring a country’s HIV progress. The integration of unique identifier codes (UICs) for key populations (KPs) into routine health information management systems (RHIMS) strengthens data accuracy and completeness, facilitating more targeted HIV interventions and greater accountability. This systematic review assessed how Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have integrated KPs’ UICs into RHIMS, highlighting key enablers, challenges, and opportunities. A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, PLOS ONE, and various government and non-government websites to identify the published and grey literature relevant to the study objective from June 2013 to December 2024. References were managed using Zotero version 6.0.36. Two authors independently screened studies using Covidence software. The review was done in accordance with the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) guidelines and was registered with the “International Prospective Register of PROSPERO) Systematic Reviews” with the registration number CRD42023440656. Out of 1735 studies screened, 361 duplicates were removed. The review found that only nine of the fifty-three SSA countries have incorporated UICs for KPs into their RHIMS through alphanumeric codes. They include Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Uganda, Togo, Malawi, and Liberia. Facilitators for KPs’ UIC adoption included strong data security and political will, whereas barriers encompassed compromised privacy, stigma and discrimination. In South Africa, the UIC for KPs can be integrated into the new electronic medical record (EMR) system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Social, Structural and Behavioral Interventions for HIV Prevention)

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Open AccessArticle

“When Somebody Comes into This Country and You Are Trans on Top of That Is Like You Got… Two Strikes on You”: Intersectional Barriers to PrEP Use Among Latina Transgender Women in the Eastern and Southern United States

by Rodrigo A. Aguayo-Romero, Genesis Valera, Erin E. Cooney, Andrea L. Wirtz and Sari L. Reisner

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22(5), 659; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22050659 - 22 Apr 2025

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Abstract

In the United States (U.S.), Latina transgender women (LTW) are highly burdened by HIV and are prioritized for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This study explored intersectional barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake among LTW. Between February–November 2022, in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 LTW [...] Read more.

In the United States (U.S.), Latina transgender women (LTW) are highly burdened by HIV and are prioritized for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This study explored intersectional barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake among LTW. Between February–November 2022, in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 LTW in the LITE Study. Participants were purposively sampled from 196 LTW in the cohort based on PrEP uptake (PrEP-naïve n = 8, PrEP-eligible and not user n = 5, current PrEP user n = 6, previous PrEP user n = 8). We conducted content analysis guided by a Modified Social Ecological Model and Intersectionality Framework. The mean age of participants was 32.3 (SD = 12.9). Themes were: (1) Intrapersonal: Medical distrust, acceptability of PrEP modalities, and concerns about long-term health; (2) Interpersonal: Mistreatment in healthcare, discrimination-related healthcare avoidance, difficulty finding trans-competent providers, language barriers, and shame and stigma; and (3) Structural: PrEP in the context of limited access to gender-affirming care and widespread silicone use, immigration status, economic marginalization, lack of community outreach, transphobia and anti-transgender legislative contexts, and xenophobia. This study found multilevel intersectional barriers influence PrEP uptake and persistence. Culturally tailored HIV prevention efforts are needed to address LTW-specific barriers, provide information on programs subsidizing PrEP, and implement policy change to ensure equitable PrEP access. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Social, Structural and Behavioral Interventions for HIV Prevention)

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