Population Council Research that makes a difference

Addressing the Balance of Burden in AIDS (ABBA) is a Research Programme Consortium (RPC) funded by the UK Department for International Development. The ABBA RPC is a multi-country research project in sub-Saharan Africa that explores the social context around prevention, treatment, care, and mitigation of the effects of HIV and AIDS in vulnerable populations. Its goal is to improve the health, education, livelihoods, and overall quality of life among the poor, vulnerable and neglected.

The ABBA RPC is the collaborative effort of five partners led by Kelly Hallman at the Population Council. The RPC’s other partners include: the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Research and Development Division (RDD) of the Ghana Health Service, Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN) in Kenya, and Research for Equity and Community Health (REACH) Trust in Malawi. 

The project seeks to improve HIV and AIDS policymaking and implementation by generating and disseminating evidence on the social, economic, and institutional factors that place the livelihoods of vulnerable and neglected groups at increased threat from HIV and AIDS.  It also identifies the institutions and programs that are best placed to alleviate those threats, and investigates the ways that HIV affects the very institutions and programs that tackle HIV and other health problems. The program of research incorporates investigations of orphanhood and vulnerable children; caregivers and home-based care; ARVs and health-related quality of life; HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities; effective programs for young people; healthcare workers and access to services; emergency situations and hyperendemic settings; and structural drivers of HIV and AIDS.

The results of this work provide policymakers and other stakeholders with sound evidence about factors that influence the impact of HIV and AIDS on poor and vulnerable groups to inform programs in health, education, and other sectors to tackle HIV and provide more effective strategies to their beneficiaries.  The ABBA consortium, working with three other DFID RPCs that constitute the Sexual Health and HIV Evidence into Practice (SHHEP) Group, was nominated by BMJ as one of four finalists for the "Getting Research into Practice" award for 2010. More news from the consortium and a list of publications and videos are available at www.abbarpc.org.

The Population Council’s work within the ABBA RPC is focused on an intervention targeting adolescents in secondary schools in periurban communities in the Durban metro area of South Africa. The study is evaluating the impact of a skills-building program that is aimed at increasing the health, social, and economic knowledge, assets, and protective behaviors of young people residing in poor, HIV and AIDS-affected communities.  

Related project: Enhancing the Economic, Health, and Social Capabilities of Highly Vulnerable Youth

Offsite link: ABBA RPC

Banner photo: Brian Goddaard/Research for Equity and Community Health Trust