Understanding the impact of HIV infection and its treatment on the effect menopause has on the musculoskeletal health of African women

The scale-up of antiretroviral treatment has dramatically improved survival, such that increasing numbers of women with chronic HIV are now reaching the menopause across Africa. The menopause is a period of rapid skeletal change which increases fracture risk. Research has seldom focused on African woman at this stage of life. Understanding mechanisms of bone loss in the context of HIV infection will help inform interventions and guidelines.

We will analyse pre-collected longitudinal data from 471 women followed-up in Soweto, collect new data from 320 women in Harare, run public engagement and stakeholder workshops to understand country-specific contexts and priorities, with initiatives to teach and train and build musculoskeletal research capability running throughout this project, and expand our SAMSON (The Sub-Saharan African MuSculOskeletal Network) collaborative. Furthermore, we will apply to the WHO to add an osteoporosis treatment to the essential medicines list, thereby increasing global access to treatment in resource-limited settings.