What Works for Women in HIV/AIDS
3 Sep 2010
What Works for Women and Girls: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions—now available at www.whatworksforwomen.org—is a comprehensive review of successful HIV programming for women and girls spanning 2,000 articles and reports with data from more than 90 countries.
Published by OSI's Public Health Program, this valuable resource contains—in one centralized, searchable location—the evidence of successful gender-specific programming from globalprograms and studies, with a focus on the Global South. “In designing HIV and AIDS programs, policymakers and program planners are faced with a wide array of possible programming. With scarce resources and growing demand for services, priorities must be based on effective interventions. What Works serves the unique function of bringing all of these topics together to provide a full range of successful gender-sensitive programming for women and girls,” says Francoise Girard, director of the Public Health Program at the Open Society Institute.
What Works is a veritable “one-stop shop” of successful strategies for women and girls on a range of topics, including:
• Prevention for women, including condom use, partner reduction and treating STIs;
• Prevention for key affected groups of women such as sex workers, drug users, prisoners, migrants, and transgendered women and men;
• Prevention for young people, including encouraging behavior change and access to services;
• HIV testing and counseling;
• Treatment provision, access, adherence and support;
• Meeting the SRH needs of women living with HIV;
• Safe motherhood and prevention of vertical transmission;
• Preventing, detecting and treating co-infections such as TB, malaria, hepatitis;
• Strengthening the enabling environment, including transforming gender norms, legal norms, advancing education, reducing violence against women, promoting women’s employment, reducing stigma and discrimination and promoting women’s leadership;
• Care and support for women and girls, orphans and vulnerable children; and
• Structuring health services to meet women’s needs
What Works complements existing guidelines from international agencies and is designed to spur national governments, donors and civil society to consult the evidence base when designing programs as well as to set a research agenda based on critical gaps for women and girls. Stay tuned for updates with the latest evidence from the IAC in Vienna!
