MRC PhD student

Level of study: PhD

Title of Research Project: The sexual and reproductive health of young women at high risk of HIV/AIDS in the Western Cape

Institution: Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)
         
Research Question
South Africa has a high prevalence proportion of the HIV/AIDS pandemic with 5.2 million of the population infected with the virus (Statistics South Africa, 2006). For prevention and intervention strategies to be effective people need to be well informed about the transmission trends of the virus, including information on the population groups most infected, the characteristics of these groups, and the factors that make them more susceptible to infection than other groups. Evidence exists on the sub-population group most infected with HIV/AIDS in the country.  According to the evidence, people most infected are females aged 15-49 with a prevalence rate of 20% (Statistics South Africa, 2006). Within this age group, the 15-24 year old females are at an even higher risk of contracting the HI-virus and other sexually transmitted infections as they account for 90% of all HIV/AIDS infections in their age group (HSRC, 2005). A number of sexual risk behaviours such as age mixing, multiple sexual partnering and inconsistent condom use have been identified as being the key drivers of the pandemic in this sub-population (Luke, 2003; Luke, 2005; Gregson et al, 2002; Leclerc-Madlala, 2003, Jewkes & Dunkle, 2006). The research project seeks to measure these sexual risk behaviours within the sub-population using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), an innovative chain referral research methodology that is used to study hidden and hard-to-reach populations. In addition, targeted interventions will be developed and subsequently evaluated in response to the findings of the surveys.
      
Project Summary
The thesis is divided into 4 papers. The main objectives of the thesis are:

• To measure the sexual risk behaviours of young women at high risk of HIV (Study 1, completed)
• To explore the underlying perceptions and attitudes that inform the young women’s sexual risk behaviours (Study 2)
• To implement an adapted gender-specific HIV risk reduction intervention for young women who have multiple, concurrent male sexual partners (Study 3)
• To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an adapted gender-specific HIV risk reduction intervention for young women who have multiple, concurrent male sexual partners (Study 4)

Mentors: Dr Mickey Chopra (MRC); Dr Anna Thorson (Karolinska Institutet); Dr Anna Mia Ekstrom (Karolinska Institutet); Loraine Townsend (MRC)
MRC Unit: Health Systems Research Unit