Nina Yamanis Receives NIH Award to Pilot a Social Norms HIV Intervention in Tanzania

Congratulations to SIS Professor Nina Yamanis who has received an award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to pilot a peer-led approach to changing social norms among adolescent girls and young women in Tanzania. Yamanis is also a Fulbright Scholar to Tanzania this academic year. 

Adolescent girls and young women ages 15–24 in Africa face a disproportionately high risk of HIV, particularly those who do not complete high school. Yet many young women who could benefit from HIV prevention services, including PrEP (a medication that helps prevent HIV), face barriers to accessing them.

Building on previous research in Tanzania, where Yamanis and co-PI Dr. Lusajo Kajula from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam found high rates of HIV risk and no PrEP use among the young women they reached, this project will test an innovative, peer-led approach called Msichana Salama (Safe Girl). The project brings young women together to build supportive peer networks, reduce stigma around PrEP, and connect participants with youth-friendly health services.

Working with 224 young women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Yamanis and Kajula will explore whether trusted peer ambassadors can encourage PrEP use, help young women stay on PrEP, and promote safer relationships and behaviors. The project will also assess whether this approach is practical, acceptable, and ready to be tested on a larger scale.

This research has the potential to offer a practical, community-driven model for reaching young women who are often overlooked by traditional health programs. Conducting the study in Tanzania allows Yamanis and Kajula to test the approach in a setting where HIV prevention services are already being delivered at scale. What they learn could also help inform HIV prevention efforts in the United States, expanding access to PrEP, strengthening community-based support, and helping prevent new HIV infections.