Maisha Fiti is a study which examines the associations between violence against women, mental health concerns, harmful alcohol and drug use, biological changes to the immune system and HIV.
Be Your Sisters’ Keeper, directed by Annie Holmes and filmed in Nairobi, is a short film which shows how women who sell sex are coming together to address the violence and stigma that they face.
Maisha Fiti is a study which examines the associations between violence against women, mental health concerns, harmful alcohol and drug use, biological changes to the immune system and HIV.
The study is innovative as it examines associations across different levels that are usually studied separately:
- Biological factors (genital tract inflammation)
- Behavioural factors (drug and alcohol use, mental health, HIV prevention and treatment adherence)
- Structural factors (poverty, violence)
What we learn will help in designing more effective holistic interventions to prevent and treat HIV infection, as well as address violence, poor mental health and harmful drinking.
The Maisha Fiti study comprises two work packages. The first work package will identify the social (e.g. violence, harmful drinking) and biological (e.g. STI infection) risk factors for genital inflammation by conducting a longitudinal, mixed-method study with 750 HIV-uninfected women, and examining all known and potential risk factors for genital inflammation, as well as potential confounders.
The second work package with 250 HIV-infected women will identify the structural (e.g. poverty, violence) and behavioural (e.g. fear of side effects) risk factors, particular to Female Sex Worker populations, which impact on HIV ARV uptake and adherence, and examine if non-adherence to ARVs is associated with ARV drug resistance and disease progression.
Be your sisters’ keeper. Directed by Annie Holmes and filmed in Nairobi, this short film shows how women who sell sex are coming together to address the violence and stigma that they face.
The film was funded by the MRC for the 2019 Festival of Science and was selected for the 2019 Global Health Film Festival.