| Institution: | 1.Department of Epidemiology,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill,USA;2.MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Unit, School of Public Health,University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg,South Africa;3.Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute,University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg,South Africa;4.Carolina Population Center,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill,USA;5.School of Health,University of New England,Armidale,Australia;6.Center for Population and Development Studies,Harvard University,Cambridge,USA;7.SCHARP,Seattle,USA;8.Department of Biostatistics,University of Washington,Seattle,USA;9.Department of Biostatistics,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill,USA;10.HPTN Laboratory Center,Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore,USA;11.FHI360,Durham,USA;12.Laboratory of Immunoregulation, NIAID,NIH,Baltimore,USA;13.Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology,Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore,USA;14.Ume? Centre for Global Health Research,Ume?,Sweden;15.INDEPTH Network,Accra,Ghana |
| Abstract: | Young women in South Africa are at high risk for HIV infection. Cash transfers offer promise to reduce HIV risk. We present the design and baseline results from HPTN 068, a phase III, individually randomized trial to assess the effect of a conditional cash transfer on HIV acquisition among South African young women. A total of 2533 young women were randomized to receive a monthly cash transfer conditional on school attendance or to a control group. A number of individual-, partner-, household- and school-level factors were associated with HIV and HSV-2 infection. After adjusting for age, all levels were associated with an increased odds of HIV infection with partner-level factors conveying the strongest association (aOR 3.05 95 % CI 1.84–5.06). Interventions like cash transfers that address structural factors such as schooling and poverty have the potential to reduce HIV risk in young women in South Africa. |
