HC3 is the organizer for this Satellite at AIDS 2014
This panel highlights the special issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes devoted to health communication and its role in and impact on HIV prevention and care. The authors have tackled a wide swath of topics, seeking to introduce a wider biomedical audience to core health communication principles, strategies, and evidence of effectiveness. Better awareness of health communication strategies and concepts can enable the broader biomedical community to partner with health communication experts in reducing risk of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis and maximize linkage and adherence to care. Interventions can be strengthened when biomedical and health communication approaches are combined in strategic and evidence-based ways. Several of the articles in this special issue present the current evidence for health communication’s impact including its strengths, role, and potential use in this era of HIV prevention and treatment.