Jaime Garcia-Iglesias

Purpose of review: The global HIV response has entered a critical moment. Tools to prevent and treat HIV are more effective than ever, yet financing cuts, political and policy regression, and persistent inequalities threaten access to these tools. This review examines key developments over the past 18 months, focusing on how inequality is shaping progress in the global HIV response. Recent findings: Progress against HIV remains highly uneven across regions and populations. New infections are increasingly concentrated among key populations – including gay and bisexual men, sex workers, transgender people, and people who inject drugs – and among adolescent girls and young women in some regions, reflecting persistent criminalization, stigma, gender inequality, and economic exclusion. The 2025 global health financing shock has disproportionately disrupted prevention, treatment, community-led services, and monitoring systems, making its full impact difficult to assess. Meanwhile, lenacapavir and other long-acting prevention technologies could transform HIV prevention, but their impact will depend on financing, infrastructure, and whether they reach the populations most likely to benefit. Summary: Addressing these challenges requires less emphasis on developing new HIV technologies than on ensuring that existing and emerging tools reach the populations who need them most. Sustained progress will require financing, protection of human rights, community leadership, and health systems capable of delivering prevention and treatment to populations most affected by HIV.

‘Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030’ has been one of the most powerful organising promises in global health (Kenworthy & Parker, 2017; Sandset T, 2021; The General Assembly of the United...

Introduction: Mental health problems among people living with HIV have been widely documented, including a high burden of common mental disorders. Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of various psychological interventions, there is limited understanding of how these interventions are experienced and evaluated by participants themselves. A key factor in ensuring successful implementation lies in how individuals interpret and emotionally respond to an intervention—specifically, whether they perceive it as meaningful, appropriate, and aligned with their expectations and needs. This qualitative meta-analysis aims to explore the subjective therapeutic experiences of people living with HIV who have participated in psychological interventions, with a particular focus on their acceptability and the perceived impact on psychological well-being. Methods and analysis: A qualitative meta-analysis will be conducted following the descriptive-interpretive approach, which enables the identification and synthesis of meaning units from participants’ narratives. The review will include qualitative and mixed-methods studies, with a clearly distinguishable qualitative component, published between January 1, 2000 and February 23, 2026, focusing on the therapeutic experiences of people living with HIV who have received psychological interventions for common mental health problems. A comprehensive search will be performed in MEDLINE (via PubMed), MEDLINE (EBSCOhost), Scopus, Web of Science, APA PsycINFO and SciELO. Methodological quality will be assessed using the CASP tool, and confidence in the findings will be evaluated through GRADE-CERQual. The data analysis will follow the descriptive-interpretive meta-analysis approach. Data management and thematic analysis will be supported by Microsoft Excel, Rayyan and/or ATLAS.ti. Expected results: This review is expected to identify key experiential themes that reflect how people living with HIV perceive and evaluate psychological interventions, including the aspects they find most helpful, challenging, or relevant. Findings will contribute to a better understanding of the acceptability of such interventions and offer practical insights for improving their design, delivery, and contextual adaptation. Dissemination: The results of this review will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentations at scientific conferences related to mental health, HIV, and qualitative research. The findings are expected to inform the development of more acceptable and culturally sensitive psychological interventions for people living with HIV.

This article examines how the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore the disruption of temporal and rhythm norms among dating app users. Based on 53 retrospective interviews, the study found a transformation from short and quick interactions aimed at finding ideal partners to ‘slow intimacy’ characterised by deeper, prolonged conversations. As restrictions lifted, there was a return to previous dating habits, highlighting how what was experienced by many as a transformative moment in online dating was undermined by the resilience of established social rhythms despite temporary disruptions. The study underscores the complex interplay between individual agency, social norms and constraints in online dating practices associated with what we term neoliberal temporal normativities. It reveals that dating rhythms are influenced by interactions with other users and the app, rather than being determined by individual preferences, as users navigate their desires within the temporal constraints of the platform and prevailing social norms.

This paper examines how gay men in the UK experienced fear during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and how these experiences were shaped by memories of HIV/AIDS, ethnicity, socio‐economic position and access to social support. Although much scholarship assumes that HIV casts a long shadow over gay men's responses to subsequent health crises, we explore to what extent HIV memories actually structured COVID‐19 fear. Drawing on 45 semi‐structured interviews with gay men of diverse ages, ethnic backgrounds and HIV statuses, we identify three overlapping forms of COVID‐19 fear: fear of contagion, fear of infecting others, and fear about societal futures. Although some participants explicitly drew parallels with the AIDS crisis, most described HIV and COVID‐19 as too different in transmission, temporality and social meaning for HIV memories to be central to their experiences of fear. Instead, COVID‐19 fear was most powerfully patterned by socio‐economic precarity and the presence or absence of social support networks. These forms of vulnerability were disproportionately reported by ethnic minority men. Our findings challenge assumptions about the primacy of HIV memory in shaping gay men's pandemic experiences and re‐centre contemporary inequalities as key determinants of COVID‐19 fear.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision loss, with increasing prevalence as populations age. Despite advances in early detection and treatment, late-stage AMD remains irreversible, underscoring the need for preventive strategies and equitable access to care. This protocol outlines a qualitative research project co-developed with public contributors, addressing two priorities: promoting preventive actions to delay progression and reducing eye health inequalities through improved community engagement. The study employs a two-component approach led by individuals with lived experience of AMD. First, focus groups stratified by socioeconomic status will explore public understanding of AMD and preventive eye care, identify barriers and enablers to routine eye examination attendance, and examine gaps in health messaging in Lothian, Scotland. Second, iterative workshops will co-develop tailored health messages and engagement strategies with public contributors and stakeholders, translating findings into accessible, community-informed materials. Data will be analysed using reflexive thematic analysis guided by the Andersen Behavioural Model (BMHSU) and the Health Belief Model (HBM), applying a combined deductive–inductive approach to capture both theoretical and emergent themes. Public contributors will participate throughout data collection, analysis, and interpretation to ensure findings remain grounded in lived experience. By examining how individual and contextual factors shape engagement with eye care across socioeconomic groups, this research aims to inform equity-focused strategies for earlier detection and AMD prevention.

Background: Drug and alcohol support workers play a vital role in addressing the growing burden of substance-related harm and mortality. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt and significant shift towards home working for many in this workforce. This study explores these workers’ home working experiences, addressing a research gap and providing valuable insights for staff, organisations delivering public health services, and service users. Design and methods: This qualitative study explores home working experiences of 30 drug and alcohol support workers in northern England during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection included innovative digital methods: (1) digital timelines ( n = 16); (2) in-depth interviews ( n = 17); (3) five focus groups ( n = 12). Timeline text was treated as qualitative text data. Interviews and focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Data were subject to Framework Analysis. Results: Seven themes were identified: (1) Difficulty balancing and separating work and home life; (2) Importance of setup, infrastructure and conducive work environment; (3) The move to remote/home working – a process; (4) Convenience and efficiency benefits; (5) Loss of the social – reductions in social connectedness and feelings of isolation; (6) The importance of the ‘office’ for connection, communication, socialising, and information sharing; (7) Managing remotely – the development and implementation of strategies and ways of coping. Conclusions: While home working offers some benefits for substance use support workers, providers, and service users, it also introduces significant challenges. Understanding these is critical for service optimisation. A hybrid (in-person/remote) delivery model, combining home and co-located, office-based working may be optimal.