Looking through the right lens: a syndemic framework for HIV disease

Sub-Saharan Africa is currently experiencing a double burden of disease with an ever-high prevalence of infectious diseases and a rapidly increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases. The co-occurrence of multiple diseases and/or health conditions can lead to a ‘syndemic’ which is defined as two or more diseases clustering within specific populations that share a synergistic relationship, leading to exacerbated disease burden. Furthermore, these interactions are driven by structural factors such as poverty, climate change and violence. As of yet, the structural factors that drive syndemics have been under-investigated which hinders an appropriate syndemic response. This project aims to provide empirical evidence towards the investigation of syndemics by carrying out two case-studies regarding the potential HIV-NCD and HIV-TB syndemics in Sub-Saharan Africa and comparing different applicable methodologies in an effort to inform adequate policy making.