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Call for papers - HIV care

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

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 26 July 2024

BMC Health Services Research is calling for submissions to our Collection on HIV care. 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

New Content ItemThis collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being, SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, SDG 13: 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. 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.