The overarching aims of IeDEA-SA are to conduct clinical, epidemiological and health services research in order to provide answers to the questions that clinicians, programs and ministries of health consider fundamental to HIV care and treatment strategies in Southern Africa; to inform HIV/AIDS, TB, cancer and mental health service delivery in the region, to increase the capacity for delivering antiretroviral therapy (ART), and, ultimately, to improve the prognosis of people living with HIV and AIDS in Southern Africa.
As the region with the greatest number of HIV+ adults and children and a sizable co-morbidity burden, the scientific agenda responds to the operational and clinical research priorities identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and opinion leaders in the field and focuses on questions that cannot be answered by one cohort. IeDEA-SA’s potential is widely recognized by information consumers, including WHO and UNAIDS, and the HIV Modelling and MESH consortia. IeDEA-SA is also leading in innovations, from novel approaches to statistical modelling to linkages with other records including national death and cancer registries.
The specific aims of IeDEA-SA are:
1. To study outcomes along the continuum of HIV care in adults
2. To study outcomes in pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents
3. To study non-communicable diseases (NCDs), hepatitis B and sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
4. To study the clinical and public health epidemiology of TB
5. To study cancer prevention, burden and care
6. To study mental health and substance use disorders