What is SRH/HIV Integration?

What is Sexual and Reproductive Health/HIV Integration?

There is increasing global recognition of the need to link and integrate SRH and HIV across policies, programs and services.  Sexual and reproductive ill-health and sexual transmission of HIV infection share the same causes or contributors, including poverty, limited access to information, gender inequality, cultural norms, and social marginalization of the most vulnerable and at-risk populations.  Women and men need access to services that promote synergistic sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention.    

Linkages and integration of SRH /HIV can occur at several levels and varying degrees within a health system.  Linkages involves addressing structural issues that leave people vulnerable and integration involves the reorganization and reorientation of policies, programs and services to ensure the delivery of a set of essential interventions as part of the continuum of care for HIV prevention, care and treatment. Integration also consists of delivering multiple services or interventions to the same patient by an individual healthcare worker or by a team of healthcare workers and, possibly, workers from other fields.

Taking a lifecycle perspective, addressing the following aspects of integration could contribute greatly to mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS:

• Educating young people about sexuality and reproductive and disease outcomes and addressing gender norms that affect power and sexual relations.
• Reducing all unintended pregnancies.
• Providing accurate information to people of reproductive age regarding HIV and a range of health issues, including reproductive health outcomes.
• Providing access to services at various entry points that include HIV into SRH /FP and SRH /FP into HIV.

What are the Benefits of SRH/HIV Integration?

Integrating SRH /HIV policies, programs and services increases people’s access to a range of information and services that can reduce unsafe sexual behaviors, reduce sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity, and reduce mother to child transmission of HIV by reducing unintended pregnancies.  Integrating SRH /HIV also assures that the reproductive health and rights of people living with HIV/AIDS are addressed and respected.