ReviewBMJ global health2023
Public health use of HIV phylogenetic data in sub-Saharan Africa: ethical issues.
Review in BMJ global health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Challenges in Elucidating HIV-1 Genetic Diversity in the Middle East and North Africa: A Review Based on a Systematic Search.Viruses · 2025Pooled it
- Use of HIV Phylogenetic Analysis in Public Health in Victoria, Australia: Regulatory Considerations.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Community Perceptions Regarding use of HIV Molecular Epidemiology for Public Health in Victoria, Australia: Qualitative Findings.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Ethical considerations and the social context of HIV phylogenetic research in uMkhanyakude district, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Southern African journal of HIV medicine · 2026Article
- Advancing the course of HIV genomics research in Africa.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Botswana tuberculosis (TB) stakeholders broadly support scaling up next-generation whole genome sequencing: Ethical and practical considerations for Botswana and global health.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Informed Consent in Molecular HIV Epidemiology: A Rapid Review of the Literature to Identify Concerns and Recommendations.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Phylogenetic analyses of HIV are an increasingly accurate method of clarifying population-level patterns of transmission and linking individuals or groups with transmission events. Viral genetic data may be used by public health agencies to guide policy interventions focused on clusters of transmission or segments of the population in which transmission is concentrated. Analyses of HIV phylogenetics in high-income countries have often found that clusters of transmission play a significant role in HIV epidemics. In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV phylogenetic analyses to date suggest that clusters of transmission play a relatively minor role in local epidemics. Such analyses could nevertheless be used to guide priority setting and HIV public health programme design in Africa for sub-populations in which transmission events are more concentrated. Phylogenetic analysis raises ethical issues, in part due to the range of potential benefits and potential harms (ie, risks). Potential benefits include (1) improving knowledge of transmission patterns, (2) informing the design of focused public health interventions for subpopulations in which transmission is concentrated, (3) identifying and responding to clusters of transmission, (4) reducing stigma (in some cases) and (5) informing estimates of the (cost-)effectiveness of HIV treatment programmes. Potential harms include (1) privacy infringements, (2) increasing stigma (in some cases), (3) reducing trust in public health programmes, and (4) increased prosecution of legal cases where HIV transmission, homosexuality or sex work is criminalised. This paper provides analysis of relevant issues with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa in order to inform consultations regarding ethical best practice for HIV phylogenetics.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.