Carolyn Audet

Traditional healer-initiated HIV testing and care expands in South Africa

Developed in a region with the world’s highest HIV prevalence, this study design and intervention has the potential to impact testing uptake among a “hidden population” by mobilizing trained healers, who vastly outnumber allopathic care providers in South Africa.

VUMC investigator expands HIV research into South Africa

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigator is hoping to improve access to HIV testing in South Africa, where more than 7 million people are known to have the virus, by training traditional healers to perform the tests.

Happy african couple embracing in front of their new house.

Researchers study unique couples intervention in Mozambique to reduce HIV transmission

Researchers in the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health are testing whether a unique “couples-centered” intervention developed in the southern African nation of Mozambique can reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Blood exposures for traditional healers

Traditional healers in sub-Saharan have a high rate of exposure to blood, putting them at risk for HIV and hepatitis C.

HIV cell

Traditional healers contribute to HIV care delays: study

If you’re a native of rural Mozambique who contracts HIV and becomes symptomatic, before seeking clinical testing and treatment, you’ll likely consult a traditional healer.