While I have worked in other Central Asian countries for nearly a decade, ACHIEVE is the first time that I’ve travelled to or worked in Tajikistan. My research is on access to HIV prevention and testing services for adolescents and young adults, and because the data that I am collecting may touch on sensitive topics (including sex and substance use among youth), local stakeholder buy-in and guidance are critical to ensuring that my research is acceptable, and ultimately successful.
As such, I am fortunate to have been placed at my training site, the Prizma Research Center in Dushanbe, which has a strong network of local partners. Shortly after I arrived at the beginning of September, I began working with my site mentor, Dr. Mahbat Bahromov, and the Prizma center coordinator, Jonbek Jonbekov, to develop a study advisory board. This board will meet three times throughout my ACHIEVE year, providing input on the study design and guidance in interpreting the results.
We assembled a team of eight individuals for the study advisory board. These stakeholders represented long-standing partners of the Prizma Research Center, including the Center for Family Medicine, the Tajik State Medical University, and the Republican AIDS Center. We also included stakeholders from non-medical government agencies whose mandate covers youth, including the National Youth Committee and the Ministry of Education. To fill the remaining roles, we considered stakeholders who could speak to the needs of specific youth populations. Since many stakeholders had mentioned gender and the unique burdens of HIV, mental health, and migration borne by Tajik women in preliminary conversations, we included a member of the President’s Women and Family Committee. To consider the perspectives of the most marginalized youth, we included a representative from the public organization Afif, whose projects have established testing and harm reduction services for key populations at partner clinics around the country. Finally, we included one youth representative, a student from the Tajik State Medical University.
We held our first study advisory board meeting on Thursday, September 28th at the Prizma office, where we became acquainted, reviewed the purpose of the study advisory board, and then I presented my proposed research study and sought feedback from members in attendance. The team of stakeholders we had gathered provided diverse and thoughtful perspectives on my plan, including suggestions regarding the geographic span of recruitment and youth representation. Their engagement and enthusiasm for the project was encouraging and made me confident that this research is valued and needed.