Social Media Messaging for HIV Testing in Zimbabwe

 描述(申请人提供)：津巴布韦是受艾滋病毒/艾滋病影响最严重的国家之一，有超过118万艾滋病毒携带者和艾滋病患者，15-49岁成年人口中艾滋病毒感染率为14.3%。然而，只有57%的女性和36%的男性接受了艾滋病毒检测并收到了结果。尽管这些数字很低，但在青少年中更低，45%的年轻女性和24%的年轻男性在过去12个月内发生过性行为，接受了艾滋病毒检测并收到了结果。因此，确定撒哈拉以南非洲青少年艾滋病毒检测的新战略至关重要。拟议的研究通过审查一项创新战略对公共卫生产生重大影响，该战略旨在增加接受艾滋病毒筛查的高危青少年的数量，然后将其与预防、护理和治疗服务联系起来。我们建议进行一项研究，通过使用社交网络来检验同行驱动的社交媒体艾滋病毒检测活动的有效性。与标准的自愿咨询和艾滋病毒检测相比，共有12个社区将被随机分配到配对中，接受社区层面的同行驱动的艾滋病毒检测活动。数据将在地理区域内唯一一家以青年为中心和以青年为导向的健康诊所收集。来自干预社区的16-24岁的年轻人将被招募到诊所，向居住在他们附近的朋友传播至少5条短信，他们认为这些短信是性活跃的。这项研究的目的是审查干预措施的效力，以增加青年艾滋病毒检测的数量，提高干预措施的效力，以增加被确定为高危青年的比例，并审查由同伴驱动的与照料和留住联系的支助战略的可行性和可接受性。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Zimbabwe is one of the countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, with more than 1.18 million people living with HIV and AIDS and an HIV prevalence of 14.3% in the adult population aged 15 - 49 years. However, only 57% of women and 36% of men had been tested for HIV and received their results. Although these numbers are low, they are lower among adolescents, with 45% of young women and 24% of young men who had sexual intercourse in the preceding 12 months having been tested for HIV and received their result. Thus, the identification of novel strategies for HIV testing among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa is paramount. The proposed study makes a significant public health impact by examining an innovative strategy to increase the number of high-risk adolescents receiving HIV screening and then subsequently be linked to prevention, care and treatment services. We propose a research study to examine the efficacy of a peer-driven, social media HIV-testing campaign through the use of social networks. A total of 12 communities will be randomly allocated in matched pairs to receive a community-level, peer-driven HIV testing campaign compared to standard voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. Data will be collected at the only youth-centered and oriented health clinic in the geographic area. Youth, aged 16 - 24 years, from intervention communities will be recruited while at the clinic to disseminate at least 5 text messages to friends living in their neighborhood that they believe to be sexually active. The aims of the study are to examine the efficacy of the intervention to increase the number of youth testing for HIV, increase the efficacy of the intervention to increase the proportion of high-risk youth identified and examine the feasibility and acceptability of a peer-driven linkage-to-care and retention support strategy.