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NIMH Project Accept

A Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial of Community Mobilization, Mobile Testing, Same-Day Results, and Post-Test Support for HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa and Thailand

NIMH Project Accept is an HIV prevention trial in which 34 communities in Africa (in South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe) and 14 communities in Thailand are being randomized to receive either a community-based HIV voluntary counseling and testing (CBVCT) intervention plus standard clinic-based VCT (SVCT), or SVCT alone. The CBVCT intervention has three major strategies: (1) to make VCT more available in community settings; (2) to engage the community through outreach; and (3) to provide post-test support. These strategies are designed to change community norms and reduce risk for HIV infection among all community members, irrespective of whether they participated directly in the intervention.

A community-level intervention based on modifying community norms can change the environmental context in which people make decisions about HIV risk, and has the potential to alter the course of the HIV epidemic in developing countries. This is the first international randomized controlled Phase III trial to determine the efficacy of a behavioral/social science intervention with an HIV incidence endpoint.

NIMH Project Accept is funded as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Cooperative Agreement (grants 5U01MH066687, 5U01MH066688, 5U01MH066701, and 5U01MH066702) involving the NIMH and several U.S. and international institutions. The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) is also providing support to the project (HPTN 043)); support has also been provided by the Office of AIDS Research of the National Institutes of Health.

The entire study, from planning work through data analysis, is scheduled to last 8 years. The intervention component of the study will last 3 years. Research funding and planning began in October of 2003; the study is scheduled to continue through 2011.

UCLA serves as the multi-site coordinating center for Project Accept, and partners with sites in Soweto and Vulindlela, South Africa.

Download a 3-page study summary. (PDF, 33K)

Download the full study protocol. (PDF, 534K)

Contact Information
Please direct all correspondence, questions, and press inquiries related to the study, to:

Project Accept
attn: Greg Szekeres
10940 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1220
Los Angeles, CA 90024
U.S.A.
Phone: +1-310-794-3579
Fax: +1-310-794-2795
Email: gszekeres@mednet.ucla.edu