South Africa

HIV prevalence in South Africa was estimated at 18.3% in 2006. The estimated number of people living with HIV at the end of 2007 was 5.7 million (UNAIDS Country Profile South Africa, 2008). While the immediate determinant of the spread of HIV relates to behaviors such as unprotected sexual intercourse, multiple sexual partners, and STIs, the fundamental driver of the epidemic in South Africa is rooted in gender inequity and gender-based violence (GBV) (South African; HIV and AIDS/STI National Strategic Plan 2007-2011). Indeed, GBV is widely recognized as a major public health problem worldwide and a key contributor to HIV infection

Since 2008, the RESPOND Project, with the support of PEPFAR, has used the EngenderHealth Men as Partners® (MAP) framework to:

• Build capacity of government and civil society partners to implement MAP programs.
• Encourage men to take a stand against GBV and promote gender equality in their personal lives and communities.
• Increase men's involvement in HIV/ AIDS-related prevention, care and support activities.
• Improve the availability, quality and use of sexual and reproductive health services for men.
• Advocate for policies that promote the transformation of gender norms in support of improved SRH.

Our work in South Africa has placed particular emphasis HIV prevention by providing male-friendly mobile HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) services to increase men's relatively low utilization of HCT. Recently, additional reproductive health services have been integrated with the HCT program, including vital signs screening, tuberculosis (TB), sexually-transmitted infections (STI), and GBV screening, family planning (FP), condoms, and cervical cancer screening. In addressing the need to reduce GBV, RESPOND has also worked successfully with the South African police to respond to violence against women.