Linking HIV and sexual and reproductive health services to enhance program outcomes

Sexual and reproductive health services provide an opportunity to achieve universal access to HIV prevention and care and should be part of a national strategic response. There is recognition that HIV is a sexually transmitted infection or associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. Both address the same target population and the vulnerability to risk and underlying causes are essentially the same. Providing comprehensive services that prevent HIV transmission, including to infants, those that meet the fertility intentions of people living with HIV, and management and prevention of sexually transmitted infections are some of the key elements of these linkages. Approaches that have shown success in HIV prevention and care include those in which a combination of strategies has been deployed, both in prevention and treatment regimens, and the combination of services delivery should yield equally positive results. Some strategies and recommendations detailed at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) World Congress in 2009 are discussed that could increase the effective response to the global response to HIV.