Social research shows everybody counts in the fight against HIV

World AIDS Day, held annually on 1 December, aims to increase awareness of issues surrounding HIV and AIDS.

At the Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH) at UNSW Sydney, the HIV research focus is on population groups most at risk of infection, including gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people in serodiscordant relationships and sexually active young people.

"Our research shows that everybody counts in the fight against HIV," said Professor Carla Treloar, Director of CSRH. "Marginalised populations, hidden voices; these are key to reducing the transmission of HIV. Our research explores the social dimensions and impact of HIV on affected communities and how responses should involve these groups to be effective."

For this World AIDS Day, CSRH has gathered a selection of the latest publications by staff that explores issues in understanding the social aspects of HIV treatment and prevention.

Promoting equitable access to PrEP in Australia: accounting for stakeholder perspectives
Christy Newman, Shana Hughes, Asha Persson, Hong-Ha M. Truong, Martin Holt

When HIV figures in family life: exploring the relational reach of serodiscordance
Christy Newman, Asha Persson, Jeanne Ellard

Responding to a national policy need: development of a stigma indicator for bloodborne viruses and sexually transmissible infections
Timothy Broady, Elena Cama, Loren Brener, Max Hopwood, John de Wit, Carla Treloar

Community-level changes in condom use and uptake of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis by gay and bisexual men in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia: results of repeated behavioural surveillance in 2013-17
Martin Holt, Toby Lea, Limin Mao, Johann Kolstee, Iryna Zablotska, Tim Duck, Brent Allan, Michael West, Evelyn Lee, Peter Hull, Andrew Grulich, John de Wit, Garrett Prestage

Using eHealth to engage and retain priority populations in the HIV treatment and care cascade in the Asia-Pacific region: A systematic review of literature
Julianita Purnomo, Katherine Coote, Limin Mao, Ling Fan, Julian Gold, Raghib Ahmad and Lei Zhang