Lancet Publishes Article About Behavioral HIV Prevention Strategies

"Behavioral Strategies to Reduce HIV Transmission: How to Make Them Work Better," Lancet: Thomas Coates of the University of California-Los Angeles and colleagues make five points in the paper about behavioral HIV prevention strategies. First, they write that the "aggregate effect of radical and sustained behavioral changes in a sufficient number of individuals potentially at risk" for HIV is "needed for successful reductions" in transmission of the virus. Second, "combination prevention is essential" because HIV prevention is "neither simple nor simplistic," according to the authors. Third, prevention programs "can do better" by "aiming for many goals ... that are achieved by use of multilevel approaches" with both HIV-positive and HIV-negative populations, the authors write. Fourth, "prevention science can do better," the authors write, adding that interventions "derived from behavioral science have a role in overall HIV prevention efforts, but they are insufficient when used by themselves to produce substantial and lasting reductions in HIV transmission between individuals or entire communities." Lastly, the researchers write that "we need to get the simple things right," adding, "The fundamentals of HIV prevention need to be agreed upon, funded, implemented, measured and achieved." They conclude, "That, presently, is not the case" (Coates et al., Lancet, 8/23).

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