The Regai Dzive Shiri Project: a cluster randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a multi‐component community‐based HIV prevention intervention for rural youth in Zimbabwe – study design and baseline results

Abstract

This is one of the first rigorous evaluations of a community-based HIV prevention intervention for young people in southern Africa. The low rates of HIV suggest that the intervention was started before this population became sexually active. Inconsistency and under-reporting of sexual behaviour re-emphasise the importance of using externally validated measures of sexual risk reduction in behavioural intervention studies.