The Mpilo Project

For the past six years, we have been focused on reaching men with HIV testing and treatment, and for good reason. Men are less likely to test for HIV, more likely to delay starting treatment, more likely to disengage from care, less likely to reach viral suppression, and more likely to die of HIV-related causes. But since it's International Women's Day, we do have one thing to say about women: We should never propose or accept solutions for reaching men that come at women's expense. Fast-tracking, we're looking at you. 👀 When we let men go to the front of the queue simply because they are men, that decision is not without a cost, and that cost is born by the women in the clinic waiting area who must now wait even longer to be seen. The impulse is understandable and probably well-intentioned--we are desperate to engage and retain more men, and we think women will wait regardless, so we prioritize the ones we're most at risk of losing. But the bottom line is that it's not fair, and it's also not necessary. Our Coach Mpilo model is achieving 97% retention among men by focusing on strengthening motivation and resilience, without relying on fast-tracking. We can reach men in ways that are fair and equitable to women. Let's make that the standard. #InternationalWomensDay Population Services International Matchboxology Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Delighted that our paper on "Understanding Oral PrEP Interest, Uptake, Persistence, and Experience of Use Among Heterosexual Men in Johannesburg, South Africa: An Exploratory Pilot Study" has at long last been published in the journal AIDS and Behavior. Kudos to Letitia Greener and Erica Felker-Kantor, who led the charge on this one, with additional thanks to Nina Hasen for the wise counsel and Anu Khosla for the unstinting support and strategic input throughout the process.

Nurses are often under the microsope for falling short in providing empathetic, high-quality care, but it doesn't help that good care often goes unnoticed and unmentioned. When we interviewed nurses, they told us their #1 motivator is positive patient feedback. So we're testing out some in-clinic posters that encourage patients who have a good experience to say so. It's a win-win.

While the perpetrators of interpersonal violence are overwhelmingly male, men are also frequently victims, often beginning in childhood and adolescence, and also need and deserve violence prevention interventions. We can and must hold both thoughts at once.

Please join the Mpilo Project on Tuesday for a SANAC-sponsored webinar on people-centred approaches to care, alongside presenters from Ritshidze and HSRC. We’ll be presenting preliminary results from the Ngiyakuzwa person-centred care pilot that we’ve been implementing with 8 clinic teams in KwaZulu-Natal, in partnership with the Department of Health. No RSVP or registration required—simply join on the day by going to https://lnkd.in/ebt7idsu.

This video on men’s health saves the best for last: "Self love. It all starts with you. Love yourself. Do things that resonate with you, within, before you can go and say to the other person, 'I love you.' Have you said that to yourself?" As men we are not always taught to do this. We are taught to be hard. But we are strong enough to let go of the things that hold us back and take up new things that move us forward.