HIV Testing, Treatment and Prevention: Generic Tools for Operational Research

The combined efforts of countries and international partners have resulted in substantial advances in HIV treatment and prevention. Nonetheless, access to key HIV services remains low in many settings around the world, and there are still major research gaps about the best way to expand HIV testing, prevention and treatment, especially in resource-limited settings.

The Generic Tools project is part of WHO's broader efforts to facilitate operational research on HIV testing, treatment and prevention. To identify the information needed to improve HIV programmes, the HIV Department of WHO held international meetings, multi-stakeholder consultations and local workshops, and reviewed the evidence and the availability of data collection tools. These activities highlighted a number of research questions that were amenable to operational research, had relevance in diverse settings, and had the potential to improve programmes and strengthen the evidence base for policies.