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HIV care

Guest Editors:
Mbuzeleni Hlongwa, PhD,  Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa
Katrina F. Ortblad, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, United States
Hamid Sharifi, PhD, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran


BMC Health Services Research  called for submissions to our Collection on HIV care. We were particularly interested in implementation research on barriers and facilitators to innovative initiatives to improve access, delivery and quality of HIV care, to promote integration of HIV care within other care levels, and to enhance care of underserved affected populations and reduce inequities

New Content ItemThis collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being, SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Mbuzeleni Hlongwa: Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa

Dr Mbuzeleni Hlongwa is a Senior Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. He is also an Honorary Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. He has been researching HIV/AIDS, community health interventions, and community health system reform in South Africa. He has applied quantitative and qualitative research methods in investigating the public health and social aspects of factors in affected populations and resource-limited settings. He has a PhD in Public Health and his primary research interests are in the HIV cascade in men.

Katrina F. Ortblad: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, United States

Dr Ortblad is an implementation scientist and Assistant Professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Her research seeks to improve equity in health access with differentiated models of HIV service delivery in high prevalence settings. Her ongoing projects, all in Kenya, include a randomized trial that explores the use of HIV self-testing (HIVST) to decrease the number of PrEP clinic visits, a study to design and test a novel model of pharmacy-based PrEP delivery, and a study to design and test a peer PrEP referral + HIVST delivery model to increase PrEP uptake and continuation among young women. She uses diverse research methods across the fields of epidemiology, economics, public policy, psychology, and implementation science. 

Hamid Sharifi:  Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Dr Hamid Sharifi is a Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KMU), Kerman, Iran. He also is the director of the HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, a WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). He has managed more than 50 national and international projects in the field of HIV, drug use, harm reduction, and sexual health. He also has published several peer-reviewed publications in the field of HIV, and other infectious diseases with an emphasis on COVID-19.

About the collection

BMC Health Services Research is calling for submissions to our Collection on human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) care. In 2021, the global number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) was 38.4 million, two-thirds of which in the WHO African region. Often living in fragile communities, PLHIV are frequently discriminated against, marginalized, and affected by social, economic, and health inequalities.

The dimensions of this epidemic, its impact on vulnerable health systems together with its aspects of inequality, social justice and discrimination led to the development of a dedicated target within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end the HIV epidemic with specific efforts across multiple SDGs. 

To make measurable progress towards these goals, health services worldwide must undergo a transformation of the HIV prevention and treatment offer and commit to immediate and decisive responses against HIV. 

HIV care at the health services level includes all aspects of prevention, treatment, monitoring, and care provided for PLHIV, people at risk of acquiring HIV, and their partners, families and caregivers. Thus, we are calling for submissions of studies presenting specifically:

  • Innovative HIV prevention campaigns and testing programs
  • HIV care enrollment programs 
  • Services that provide access to, delivery and monitoring of Antiretroviral therapy (ART)
  • Services dedicated to opportunistic infections and other comorbidities for PLHIV with a special focus on integration of other services for key vulnerable populations
  • Psychosocial support, home-based and palliative care
  • Interventions to ensure and strengthen treatment adherence, retention and re-engagement


We are particularly interested in implementation research on barriers and facilitators to innovative initiatives to improve access, delivery and quality of HIV care, to promote integration of HIV care within other care levels, and to enhance care of underserved affected populations and reduce inequities


Image credit: LightFieldStudios / Getty Images / iStock

  1. According to the 2016–2017 Tanzania HIV Impact Survey, only 45% of men living with HIV (MLWH) were aware of their HIV status. In an effort to increase HIV testing in Tanzania, including among men, the Governme...

    Authors: Donaldson F. Conserve, Gamji Rabiu Abu-Ba’are, Samuel Janson, Frank Mhando, Grace V. Munisi, Busara Drezgic, Abubakar Rehani, Wynton Sims, Tiarney D. Ritchwood, Augustine T. Choko, Stella E. Mushy, Cheryl Johnson, Larissa Jennings Mayo-Wilson, Albert Komba, Peris Urasa, LaRon E. Nelson…
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:1166
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Digital health interventions have the potential to improve linkage to care after HIV self-testing (HIVST). This study aimed to understand clients’ and providers’ perceptions of benefits, and barriers of a digi...

    Authors: Frank Mhando, Stella E. Mushy, Marwa Nyankomo, Frederick Haraka, Werner Maokola, Zeye Masunga, Thomas Machalo, Catherine Nnko, Michelle M. Gill, Sajida Kimambo, Samuel Janson, Samara Toussaint, Marie J. Bourgeau, Mamaswatsi Kopeka, Ivan Teri, Christa Hall…
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:1084
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective pharmaceutical intervention that prevents HIV infection, but PrEP uptake across the US has been slow among men who have sex with men (MSM), especially amon...

    Authors: Jun Tao, Hannah Parent, Ishu Karki, Harrison Martin, Sarah Alexandra Marshall, Jhanavi Kapadia, Amy S. Nunn, Brandon D. L. Marshall, Henry F. Raymond, Leandro Mena and Philip A. Chan
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:1023
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The transition to the “test-and-treat” policy in Nepal in 2017, coupled with the rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2020, necessitates an in-depth understanding of factors influencing ART init...

    Authors: Archana Shrestha, Lisasha Poudel, Soniya Shrestha, Niharika Jha, Bihari Sharan Kuikel, Prakash Shakya, Rajya Shree Kunwar, Lok Raj Pandey, Man Bahadur KC, Erin C. Wilson and Keshab Deuba
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:927
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. There has been a longstanding effort to integrate behavioral health and HIV care for people with comorbid HIV and behavioral health needs, including those with severe mental illness (SMI). As this population f...

    Authors: Priya Dahiya, Nicholas S. Riano, James W. Dilley, Mark Olfson, Francine Cournos, Christina Mangurian and Emily A. Arnold
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:690
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. HIV partner notification services can help people living with HIV (PLHIV) to identify, locate, and inform their sexual and injecting partners who are exposed to HIV and refer them for proper and timely counse...

    Authors: Fatemeh Tavakoli, Mahlagha Dehghan, Ali Akbar Haghdoost, Ali Mirzazadeh, Mohammad Mehdi Gouya and Hamid Sharifi
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:570
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Differentiated service delivery (DSD) programs for people living with HIV (PWH) limit eligibility to patients established on antiretroviral therapy (ART), yet uncertainty exists regarding the duration on ART n...

    Authors: Jonathan Ross, Kathryn Anastos, Sarah Hill, Eric Remera, Gallican N Rwibasira, Charles Ingabire, Francine Umwiza, Athanase Munyaneza, Benjamin Muhoza, Chenshu Zhang, Denis Nash, Marcel Yotebieng and Gad Murenzi
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:555
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Despite the many interventions that have been implemented in sub-Saharan Africa to improve the uptake of HIV testing and antiretroviral (ART) initiation services, the rates at which men are tested for HIV and ...

    Authors: Mbuzeleni Hlongwa and Edward Nicol
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:552
    Content type: Study Protocol Published on:

  9. Significant progress has been made in the HIV response in South Africa; however, gaps remain in ensuring engagement in care to support life-long medication adherence and viral suppression. The National Departm...

    Authors: Xolani Ntinga, Franco Musiello, Thembelihle Pita, Nomagugu Mabaso, Connie Celum, Adam Szpiro, Heidi van Rooyen, Ruanne Barnabas and Alastair van Heerden
    Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2024 24:88
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "HIV care" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.