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HSRC Annual Report 2016/17
HIV/AIDS, TB and STI (HAST)
“My HIV status is going to let me live longer than I would have lived normally, because I’ve
got a challenge, because I know that I have a duty to the people out there to
inspire them that ‘Folks, the fight is on! Let’s hold hands. Let’s not hide.”
Top SA playwright, Gibson Kente
The HAST Research Programme, a UNAIDS Collaborating Centre on HIV Prevention Research and Policy, is a large multi-
disciplinary team with over 50 full-time researchers who undertake approximately 25 applied social sciences research
projects per year. The programme boasts 18 master’s, PhD and post-doctoral research trainees, with three of the five
senior researchers being black females. Through its innovative and valuable work which impacts on South Africa’s
response to HIV and AIDS, HAST raised over R55 million in external funding during 2016/17.
Research pillars
The HAST programme is anchored on the following research pillars:
•
Epidemiology and Strategic Information Research
, focusing on national HIV and TB surveillance, both in the
general population and in different sectors of the economy;
•
Social, Biomedical and Behavioural Interventions Research
, focusing on HIV, STIs and TB, including reducing
the impact of substance abuse, HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and gender-based violence;
•
Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA)
, which includes multi-site, multi-country research
projects in Africa, and aims to generate new evidence for HIV prevention and care and to impact mitigation. This
also serves to express the strategic focus of the HSRC towards Africa in the area of HIV and TB; and
•
Operational and Implementation Research
, focusing on evidence-based interventions such as prevention of
mother-to-child transmission, male circumcision, HIV counselling and testing and prevention of TB.
Research highlights
Fifth South African Behaviour Sero-Surveillance and Media (SABSSM V) Survey
In 2016/17 HAST led a consortium of scientists from, among others, the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC), US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), University of Cape
Town (UCT), Global Labs, Soul City, and the Center for Communication Impact, in conducting the SABSSM V Survey.
This national survey is the largest of its kind in South Africa and aims to collect data from 60 000 individuals in 22 000
households on HIV prevalence, HIV incidence, antiretroviral use, viral load, and resistance to antiretroviral drugs, as well
as information on socio-demographic and behavioural factors that put people at risk of HIV. The inclusion of novel
laboratory methodologies in the survey protocol enables direct estimates of HIV incidence, exposure to antiretroviral
treatment (ART), and resistance to antiretroviral drugs. Fieldwork for this study commenced early in 2017 and the report
will be launched at the end of 2017.
National TB Prevalence Survey
Work with stakeholders to develop the protocols and methodology for South Africa’s first National TB Prevalence Survey
began in 2016/17. This study will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Health, HAST, the SAMRC and
NICD, with technical support from theWHO.Training of fieldworkers and the first pilot survey was conducted in November
2016. The study aims to determine a national estimate of the prevalence of TB in the general population and has a national
sample of 55 000 individuals. Fieldwork for this study will commence later in 2017 and the results will be launched in 2018.
HIV and TB Integrated Biological and Behavioural Study (IBBS) for Migrant Mine Worker Sending Communities
in Lesotho (2016–2017)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the Government of Lesotho, commissioned this
study to undertake an HIV and TB Integrated Biological and Behavioural Study (IBBS) in selected migrant mine worker
sending communities in Lesotho. The aim is to strengthen the existing evidence base to develop future programming
to address HIV and TB in this population. HAST is undertaking the project in collaboration with IOM, the Lesotho Ministry
of Health and Sechaba Consultants (Lesotho). The project began in 2016 will be completed in 2017.
PART B: Performance Overview