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Combination social protection for reducing HIV-risk behavior amongst adolescents in South Africa

Abstract:
Background: Social protection (i.e. cash transfers, free schools, parental support) has potential for adolescent HIV-prevention. We aimed to identify which social protection interventions are most effective and whether combined social protection has greater effects in South Africa.

Methods: In this prospective longitudinal study, we interviewed 3516 adolescents aged 10-18 between 2009 and 2012. We sampled all homes with a resident adolescent in randomly-selected census areas in four urban and rural sites in two South African provinces. We measured household receipt of fourteen social protection interventions and incidence of HIV-risk behaviors. Using gender-disaggregated multivariate logistic regressio

n and marginal-effects analyses, we assessed respective contributions of interventions and potential combination effects. Results: Child-focused grants, free schooling, school feeding, teacher support, and parental monitoring were independently associated with reduced HIV-risk behavior incidence (OR 0.10-0.69). Strong effects of combination social protection were shown, with cumulative reductions in HIV-risk behaviors. For example, girls’ predicted past-year incidence of economically-driven sex dropped from 11% with no interventions, to 2% amongst those with a child grant, free school and good parental monitoring. Similarly, girls’ incidence of unprotected/casual sex or multiple-partners dropped from 15% with no interventions to 10% with either parental monitoring or school feeding, and to 7% with both interventions.

Conclusion: In real-world, high-epidemic conditions, ‘combination social protection’ shows strong HIV-prevention effects for adolescents and may maximize prevention efforts.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1097/QAI.0000000000000938

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
SSD
Department:
Social Policy & Intervention
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
SSD
Department:
Social Policy & Intervention
Role:
Author



Publisher:
BioMed Central
Journal:
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes More from this journal
Volume:
72
Issue:
1
Pages:
96–104
Publication date:
2016-05-01
Acceptance date:
2015-12-11
DOI:
ISSN:
1758-2652


Keywords:
Pubs id:
pubs:597478
UUID:
uuid:518fa529-255d-4792-b753-0249ca611b3b
Local pid:
pubs:597478
Source identifiers:
597478
Deposit date:
2016-01-26
ARK identifier:

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