Key populations

Projects focus on understanding and ensuring access to care for key population groups who are at higher risk of HIV and other infections who often face barriers to health care due to stigma, discrimination, or criminalisation.

Current projects

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ARISE-NURINT

Reducing Nutrition-Related Noncommunicable Diseases in Adolescence and Youth: Interventions and Policies to Boost Nutrition Fluency and Diet Quality in Africa (ARISE-NUTRINT)

The ARISE Network Studies, conducted within the USINGA Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Umlazi, focus on improving adolescent health and wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. Through projects such as ARISE-NUTRINT and ARISE-DASH, the studies address critical issues of nutrition, physical activity, sexual and reproductive health, and mental health among adolescents aged 10 to 24.

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DASH

Research Network for Design and Evaluation of Adolescent Health Interventions and Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa face significant health challenges across nutrition, physical activity, sexual and reproductive health, and mental health, including exposure to violence. Limited population-level data and insufficiently targeted interventions hinder effective policy and program responses in the region.

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Key Populations

Despite major progress in South Africa’s HIV response, Key Populations (KPs) and Vulnerable Groups (VGs)—including female sex workers, men who have sex withmen, people who inject drugs, and adolescent girls and young women—remain disproportionately affected. The barriers they face are rooted not in a lack of medication, but in powerful structural drivers: punitive laws, persistent social stigma, gender inequality, discrimination, violence, and health services that are often unwelcoming or unsafe. These challenges are compounded by gaps in basic health worker training, which can lead to secondary stigma within healthcare settings and discourage engagement with HIV testing, prevention (such as PrEP), and treatment (ART).

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Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration on Adolescent Pregnancy

This multi-stakeholder collaboration investigates early and late teenage pregnancy and the intergenerational cycle of adolescent motherhood in KwaZulu-Natal. The study aims to generate a comprehensive understanding of the factors driving adolescent pregnancy and its long-term effects on young mothers and their communities.

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The Primary Health Care Transformation Committee (PHCTC)

The Primary Health Care Transformation Committee (PHCTC) is a learning collaborative in KwaZulu-Natal that drives health system reform to strengthen Primary Health Care (PHC) and revitalise Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC). Established in 2018 through a partnership between the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health and UKZN’s Centre for Rural Health, the PHCTC promotes evidence-based decision-making and shared learning to improve people-centred health services.