Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Kippax and N. Stephenson developed the argument and wrote the first draft of the article. Parker and P. Aggleton contributed to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All authors edited and approved the article. When HIV prevention targets risk and vulnerability, it focuses on individual agency and social structures, ignoring the centrality of community in effective HIV prevention.
The neoliberal concept of risk assumes individuals are rational agents who act on information provided to them regarding HIV transmission. This individualistic framework does not recognize the communities in which people act and connect. The concept of vulnerability on the other hand acknowledges the social world, but mainly as social barriers that make it difficult for individuals to act.
Neither approach to HIV prevention offers understanding of community practices or collective agency, both central to success in HIV prevention to date. Drawing on examples of the social transformation achieved by community action in Australia and Brazil, this article focuses on this middle ground and its role in effective HIV prevention.
When affected communities help to plan and implement HIV initiatives, the demand for better and more equitable services increases, awareness of societal barriers and harmful gender norms is raised, governments are held accountable for meeting the needs of citizens and services and outcomes improve.
This leads to broader social transformation, which is paramount to halt and reverse the HIV epidemic. Although community has always played a part in HIV prevention, this explicit UNAIDS attention is welcome because it shifts attention away from an earlier almost exclusive focus on risk behaviors and vulnerable populations.
