The history and impact of HIV&AIDS. A decade of INDEPTH research

Aim: To evaluate the contributions of the member health research centres of the INDEPTH Network which operate health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) field sites to research efforts on the epidemiology and impacts of HIV/AIDS in low-and middle-income countries, via a review of peer-reviewed published papers on HIV/AIDS that use the HDSS framework. Methods: Publication titles were sent to INDEPTH by member centres. These were uploaded onto the Zotero research tool from different databases ( most from PubMed). We searched for publications using the keyword HIV and the publication date. The 540 relevant papers were all published in peer-reviewed English language journals between 1999 and 2012. 71 papers were finally selected which met the key criterion for inclusion: papers must deal with the spread and impact of HIV. Results: The study found that alcohol consumption, socioeconomic status, educational attainment and age are factors that put certain groups at higher risk of HIV infection. The study found strong effects of AIDS on household dissolution. Women with HIV whose husbands were uninfected faced a higher risk of separation and divorce than women in uninfected households or in households where both female and male partners were infected. Elderly women also face social stigma and isolation as a result of either living with HIV/AIDS themselves or caring for an individual who has the virus as well as financial difficulties on household welfare. Children with mothers who are infected with HIV appear to face threats to survival even while the mother remains alive. Conclusion: INDEPTH member centres have tracked the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. They have analysed how the virus is transmitted, how and where it emerged, which groups are most affected, and how the virus impacts families, communities and economies. The robust and extensive data they have generated provide critical insights to policy-makers as the epidemic moves into its fourth decade. (C) 2014 Polish AIDS Research Society. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z.o.o. All rights reserved.