SRH and HIV

Introduction

The Alliance considers it crucial to strengthen and expand its programming and policy work in order to support communities to realise their sexual and reproductive rights. 

The Alliance promotes sexual and reproductive health (SRH), rights and HIV linkages and access to integrated services and interventions through policy and programming in all epidemic settings, with a focus on those most vulnerable to HIV and sexual and reproductive ill-health.

These include sex workers, drug users, men who have sex with men, adolescent girls and boys, discordant couples, people in concurrent partnerships, migrants and those living in conflict situations.   

Linked SRHR and HIV programmes play an important role in efforts to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and universal access to reproductive health.

The Alliance uses a rights-based approach and the promotion of sexual and reproductive rights is an overarching principle in all its work. The violation of these rights is a root cause of HIV and sexual and reproductive ill-health and often forms a ‘make or break’ obstacle to efforts to achieve universal access, especially for the most vulnerable people.

Why link SRH, Rights and HIV?

There is growing recognition of the importance of linking sexual and reproductive health, rights and HIV in order to increase the effectiveness of the global response to the HIV epidemic.

The majority of HIV infections are sexually transmitted or associated with pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

The risk of HIV transmission and acquisition can be further increased by the presence of certain sexually transmitted infections. In addition, sexual and reproductive ill-health and HIV share root causes, including poverty, gender norms and inequality, cultural norms and social marginalisation or criminalisation of the most vulnerable populations and rights violations.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be achieved without ensuring access to SRH services and an effective global response to the epidemic.

As most people think of their sexual and reproductive lives in a holistic way with HIV as only one consideration, mobilising and considering sexual and reproductive well-being more broadly opens up many more opportunities for addressing HIV at different levels and in ways that resonate with different groups.

The Alliance approach

The Alliance approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and HIV includes interventions aimed at empowering individuals and groups most affected in order to increase their access to integrated services (see below) and advocating for changes in policy, law and the economic environment.

Integrated interventions and services include

1. Promoting healthy sexual practices and relationships and health seeking behaviour 
2. Integrating testing and counselling services to increase knowledge of HIV status
3. Optimising connections between STI and HIV services
4. Integrating HIV and AIDS services with maternal and infant health services to improve maternal health and prevent vertical transmission to children
5. Integrating services to expand the reach of programmes and services to target groups
6. Integrating interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination, promote rights and increase access to and use of services
7. Promoting activities to understand and change harmful social, cultural and gender norms, which are a barrier to SRH and the HIV response. 
8. Advocating for linkages, integration and the promotion of rights
9. Advocating to increase funding for this area of work, particularly from the Global Fund to fight HIV, TB and Malaria

For more information read our Good Practice Update: Linkages and Integration of Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and HIV: The Alliance approach (April 2009).

Achievements to date

• 20 Alliance programmes (see map) integrate SRH and rights and HIV programming.
• In 2008, the Alliance took part in the Global Fund Mobilising for SRHR/HIV Integration initiative, which involved seven international development organisations supporting civil society groups to develop HIV proposals that integrated sexual and reproductive health.  The initiative resulted in nine proposals, with four successfully securing grants (Burundi, Ghana, Madagascar and Zambia).

Our partners

• The Alliance is a member of the Advisory Groups for the Maternal Health Task Force , HIV and family planning working group and the Women Deliver initiatives which ensure cross-sector learning and synergy.