AFRO-NETS> Electronic Publications from the Horizons Project--June 2000

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@pcdc.org>]

Electronic Publications from the Horizons Project--June 2000
------------------------------------------------------------

"On the Horizon" is an electronic news capsule from the Horizons Pro-
ject, managed by the Population Council:
http://www.popcouncil.org/horizons/horizons.html

It is a five-year (1997-2002) global operations research project de-
signed to: 
* Identify and test potential strategies to improve HIV/AIDS preven-
  tion, care, and support programs and service delivery. 
* Disseminate best practices and utilize findings with a view toward 
  replication and scaling up of successful interventions.

**************************************************************** 
THREE NEW ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE:

1) Male Circumcision and HIV Prevention: Directions for Future Re-
   search by Johannes van Dam and Marie-Christine Anastasi, Horizons 
   Project

A growing body of scientific publications suggests that male circum-
cision is associated with a reduced risk of HIV infection in sub-
Saharan Africa. Thus, male circumcision is being considered as a po-
tential intervention in the prevention of sexually transmitted HIV 
infection, even though this procedure has profound cultural implica-
tions and carries the risk of complications, and its benefits are re-
alized only many years later.

This report presents the findings of a meeting of international re-
searchers, organized by the Horizons Project, to explore the program-
matic and research implications of the association between male cir-
cumcision and HIV prevention. 

For a text version of this publication, please e-mail 
Cecilia Snyder
mailto:csnyder@pcdc.org 

*** The following two articles, written by Horizons Project staff, 
are also available in hard copy from AIDS Info Docu Switzerland --
please see below for contact details ***

2) The Role of the Family in HIV Prevention by Sam Kalibala, Horizons 
   Project 

The family is the closest social network to which an individual be-
longs. The traditional extended family has always been relied upon as 
the safety net for handling social ills. However, the needs and suf-
fering caused by the AIDS epidemic has stretched those resources to a 
breaking point; in addition, the traditional family is withering away 
in Africa just when its caring influence is most needed to confront 
the calamity of the AIDS epidemic. 

The family is a double-edged sword in HIV prevention. On one hand 
they can love and support adolescents, sex workers, and people living 
with HIV/AIDS. On the other hand they can reject, ostracize, dis-
criminate and drive them into increased risk for contracting HIV. 
Hence if the role of the family in the prevention of HIV is to be en-
hanced, efforts to convert the family into a supportive and loving 
institution should be undertaken. 

Often parents cannot emotionally handle the fact that their own lit-
tle boy or girl is already having sex; and start to view every behav-
ior of their youth with suspicion. This attitude erodes trust and 
builds a communication barrier between youths and their adults. Un-
fortunately, this is often the very period when young people need to 
talk and learn about their own sexuality.

THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, GERMAN, and FRENCH 
With many thanks to our colleagues at AIDS Info Docu Switzerland:

English: http://www.aidsnet.ch/e/infothek_edition_2_00_025.htm
French:  http://www.aidsnet.ch/f/infothek_edition_2_00_025.htm
German:  http://www.aidsnet.ch/d/infothek_edition_2_00_025.htm

For a text version of this publication, please e-mail
Cecilia Snyder
mailto:csnyder@pcdc.org 

For a hard copy version, please contact: 
AIDS Info Docu Switzerland
P.O. Box 5064
CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland 
Tel: +41-31-312-1266 
mailto:info@aid.ch

3) Improving HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care, and Support Through Opera-
   tions Research by Andy Fisher, Horizons Project 

Nearly two decades after the emergence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, very 
little research has been devoted to basic operational issues that af-
fect the delivery of services in prevention, care, and support. We 
have learned much about which behaviors place persons at risk, and 
have some sense of what types of interventions work to prevent HIV 
transmission - but we know far less about why and how these interven-
tions work, what they cost, and where and when they can be success-
fully replicated on a large scale. 

Such issues are addressed by the Horizons Project, which conducts 
more than 60 operations research studies in 21 developing countries 
designed to help identify best practices in HIV/AIDS prevention, 
care, and support. The Horizons research portfolio focuses on 11 
broad themes: prevention and management of sexually transmitted dis-
eases (STDs), youth, gender, integration of services, barrier meth-
ods, voluntary counselling and testing, capacity strengthening and 
scaling up, stigma and discrimination, social marketing and the pri-
vate sector, care and support, and community mobilization.

THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, GERMAN, and FRENCH 
With many thanks to our colleagues at AIDS Info Docu Switzerland:

English: http://www.aidsnet.ch/e/infothek_edition_2_00_030.htm 
French:  http://www.aidsnet.ch/f/infothek_edition_2_00_030.htm 
German:  http://www.aidsnet.ch/d/infothek_edition_2_00_030.htm 

For a text version of the publication, please e-mail
Cecilia Snyder
mailto:csnyder@pcdc.org 

For more information about the specific studies cited in the article, 
please contact 
The Horizons Project
mailto:horizons@pcdc.org 

For a hard copy version, please contact: 
AIDS Info Docu Switzerland
P.O. Box 5064
CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland
Tel: +41-31-312-1266 
mailto:info@aid.ch

MAILING LIST FOR FUTURE PRINT PUBLICATIONS: 
If you would like to be included on our mailing list please contact 
Cecilia Snyder
mailto:csnyder@pcdc.org

****************************************************************

The Population Council http://www.popcouncil.org manages the Horizons 
Project under cooperative agreement No. HRN-A-00-97-00012-00 with the 
U.S. Agency for International Development. Horizons' partners include 
the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), the Program 
for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), the International 
HIV/AIDS Alliance, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Tu-
lane University. The opinions expressed herein are those of the au-
thor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency 
for International Development.


--
CeCecilia Snyder
Dissemination Specialist 
Horizons/Population Council 
4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 280 
Washington, DC 20008, USA
Tel: +1-202-237-9400 
Fax: +1-202-237-8410 
mailto:csnyder@pcdc.org 
http://www.popcouncil.org/horizons/horizons.html 

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