Research Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS (REACH)

Cross-sectional Study

The site survey of clinical prevention services such as Voluntary
Counseling & Testing and prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission will
be conducted in areas where the PEPFAR/Nigeria program has already set
up these facilities. In addition to conducting an evaluation of these
services using social science methodology, the project will investigate
accessibility of these services by people in the communities. These
processes will enable the targeted communities to provide input on their
HIV/AIDS prevention needs, goals and concerns, and help inform the
providers of these services of the best ways for expanding access to
their targeted populations.

Data gathered will be used to identify the issues, behaviors, and
attributes most crucial to advancing the practice of HIV prevention in
each community. Further investigation and analysis of these entry points
will produce the information needed to design more effective,
evidence-based interventions. REACH researchers in Nigeria and the
United States will then analyze the data collected, and develop
recommendations for community-tailored prevention strategies. These
recommendations will seek to be strategic and focused, identifying the
leverage points, structural attributes, and sub-groups that, if properly
targeted, could have a significant impact in reducing infection rates.