Tobacco mythbusters: tools for debunking common myths promoted by the tobacco industry
Lesotho’s Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy is a strategic response to the high levels of HIV and TB prevalence in the country that are exacerbated by the persistence of structural and sio-economic difficulties, such as poverty, unemployment, gender inequality and more. This strat...egy aims to address these issues.
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he UNFPA “Programmatic guidelines: Cash and Voucher Assistance in Sexual and Reproductive Health programming in Emergencies” explains how CVA can be effectively integrated into humanitarian responses to help women, girls, and other vulnerable groups access lifesaving and comprehensive SRH servic...es. Rooted in UNFPA’s mandate, this document provides practical direction for designing, implementing, and monitoring CVA within SRH programming.
The guidance highlights the barriers that hinder access to SRH care, such as affordability, availability, acceptability, and appropriateness, and illustrates how CVA can address financial obstacles by covering transport, user fees, or other indirect costs, while reinforcing health system strengthening efforts. CVA is presented as a complementary tool that supports both emergency and long-term SRH goals. Within humanitarian emergencies, it can contribute directly to achieving MISP objectives, including:
Enabling survivors of sexual violence to access clinical and psychosocial care;
Supporting the continuation of HIV and STI treatment, including coverage of transport;
Facilitating safe deliveries and emergency obstetric and newborn care; and
Removing financial barriers to voluntary family planning and contraceptive access, while ensuring informed choice and avoiding coercion.
Beyond the MISP, CVA also supports the transition to comprehensive SRH services in protracted emergencies and recovery phases. Examples include using cash or vouchers to encourage antenatal and postnatal care, ensure menstrual hygiene, sustain cancer prevention and treatment, fund obstetric fistula repair, and promote SRH education among adolescents.
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HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS | (2022)9:295 | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01312-3 .
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly Southern and East Africa, has the highest AIDS deaths
and HIV-infected people in the world. Even though considerable effort has been made over
the yea...rs to study HIV transmission risk behaviours of different population groups in SSA,
there is little evidence of studies that have looked at pooled effects of associated HIV risk
factors among men, particularly in Southern Africa.
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AIDS 2024, 38:1579–1588. Treatment interruptions are a barrier to successful antiretroviral therapy (ART). 'Fresh start messages', which leverage significant days on the calendar (e.g., new year, public holiday) in order to prompt action, have the potential to encourage people with HIV (PWH) to re...turn to care. We evaluated a 'fresh start' intervention (text messages) to increase return to care in PWH who had missed their last appointment.
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