Advancing the prevention agenda for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in south China: social science research to inform effective public health interventions.
Despite widespread biomedical advances in treatment and prevention, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) continue to affect a large portion of the world's population. The profoundly social nature of behaviorally driven epidemics and disparities across socioeconomic divides in the distribution of HIV/STI and care outcomes emphasize the need for innovative, multilevel interventions. Interdisciplinary approaches to HIV/STI control are needed to combine insights from the social and biological sciences and public health fields. In this concluding essay to a Special Issue on HIV/STI in south China, we describe the evolution of the region's HIV/STI epidemics and the government response, then synthesize findings from the 11 studies presented in this issue to extend seven recommendations for future HIV/STI prevention and care research in China. We discuss lessons learned from forging international collaborations between the social and biological sciences and public health to inform a shared research agenda to better meet the needs of those most affected by HIV and other STI.
Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7440, USA, kmuessig@med.unc.edu.
Kathryn E
KE
Muessig
M Kumi
MK
Smith
Suzanne
S
Maman
Yingying
Y
Huang
Xiang-Sheng
XS
Chen
D035843:Biomedical Research; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D011634:Public Health; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012942:Social Sciences