Building a safe house on firm ground

ATHENA partnered with Salamander Trust to hold a values and preferences survey among nearly 1,000 women living with HIV globally, with regard to their sexual and reproductive health and human rights. The survey was led by a core group of 5  consultants bringing together expertise from different fields, and shaped by a Global Reference Group (GRG) of 14 women living with HIV from diverse backgrounds and contexts around the world. The consultation will inform the World Health Organization (WHO) updated guidelines on sexual and reproductive health and human rights for women living with HIV. 

Members of the GRG and the survey authors convened in Geneva along with representatives from the WHO, partners, and members of the Guidelines Development Committee to present the findings of the survey, “Building a Safe House on Firm Ground“. The work represents an trailblazing approach to guidelines development and ATHENA is working with Salamander Trust to present the methodology and results through peer-reviewed publications and at the Federation of International Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Congress in October 2015

This consultation, called a “values and preferences survey” was commissioned by the WHO as they begin the process of updating their 2006 Guidelines on the SRH of women living with HIV. The consultation is not the first of its kind, but may be the biggest, in terms of the number of women living with HIV participating. More importantly, this is the first time that WHO has started the guidelines development process with a values and preferences survey.