HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Programme

The primary aims of the Programme are to study the epidemiology and prevention of HIV infection in both general and high-risk populations, and to establish the burden and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The epidemiological work of the programme encompasses three major cohorts (rural General Population Cohort, high-risk female sex workers, Fisherfolk cohort), and several hospital-based studies. These cohorts provide a platform for many Epidemiology & Prevention and Intervention, Basic Science, HIV Care, and Social Science sub-studies as well as contributing to wider international collaborations, such as the ALPHA Network (Analysing Longitudinal Population based HV/AIDS data in Africa) and the INDEPTH Cohort Consortium and the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC).

This Programme has two broad areas within which there are specific projects. a) Prevent acquisition of new infections in general and in key populations: i) assess knowledge and preferences for biomedical HIV prevention interventions and adherence to oral PrEP and determine best recruitment and retention strategies for research among adolescents and young women
ii) assessing the long term safety profile and adherence of dapivirine vaginal ring in an open-label trial while continuing to assess HIV incidence; iii) work on assessing the impact and adherence of Test-and-Treat as prevention; iv) HIV combination prevention including PrEP among fishing communities, as well as modelling of HIV combination prevention and estimation of the cost-effectiveness, and the impact on HIV incidence; v) continuation of research on evaluating HIV vaccines in early phase I and II trials and phase IIb/III efficacy trials, and new microbicides. b) Improve survival and quality of life among those infected i) mental health care interventions; ii) research on health systems for chronic disease; iii) investigate the effect of hormonal contraceptives on recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV), vaginal microbiota and inflammatory markers among women at high risk for HIV in Kampala; iv) collaborate with The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) to identify research questions on topics such as ART toxicities.