Creating a culture of evidence use: Using an innovative knowledge translation platform to inform HIV/AIDS programming for women and girls

Given that moving evidence from a study to policy, programs, and practice can often take a decade or more, what is the best way to get evidence into the hands of those developing policies and programs to speed its use? Enhancing the use of evidence in policies and programs through an innovative web-based knowledge platform, What Works for Women: Evidence for HIV/AIDS Interventions, resulted in major changes in National Strategic HIV Plans plus Concept Notes submitted to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 14 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This paper documents how components of the platform resulted in demonstrable changes in HIV programming for women and girls, as a key resource for the top institutions in the HIV pandemic: PEPFAR, Global Fund, UNAIDS, and civil society organizations. This document presents lessons learned from the creation and dissemination of this knowledge platform that may be useful for many other potential applications to increasing evidence-informed, gender-responsive policies

Addressing intimate partner violence and power in intimate relationships in HIV testing services in Nairobi, Kenya

Intimate partner violence (IPV) undermines women’s uptake of HIV services and violates their human rights. In a two-arm randomized controlled trial we evaluated a short intervention that went a step beyond IPV screening to discuss violence and power with women receiving HIV testing services during antenatal care (ANC). The intervention included training and support for HIV counselors, a take-home card for clients, and an on-site IPV counselor. One third (35%) of women (N = 688) reported experiencing IPV in the past year; 6% were living with HIV. Among women experiencing IPV, program participants were more likely to disclose violence to their counselor than women receiving standard care (32% vs. 7%, p \u3c 0.001). At second ANC visit, intervention group women were significantly more likely to report that talking with their counselor made a positive difference (aOR 2.9; 95% CI 1.8, 4.4; p \u3c 0.001) and felt more confident in how they deserved to be treated (aOR 2.7; 95% CI 1.7, 4.4; p \u3c 0.001). Exploratory analyses of intent to use ARVs to prevent mother-to-child transmission and actions to address violence were also encouraging