Community Outreach
Community Outreach: Bridging Science and Community
The CAPRISA Community Programme is founded on the principle that communities are equal partners in research, not passive participants. Our approach is built on trust, transparency, and bidirectional learning between researchers and communities. We recognise communities as knowledge holders whose lived experiences, leadership, and contextual insight strengthen the impact and relevance of science. Through genuine knowledge co-creation, we ensure communities are not only included in research, but actively empowered as co-architects of solutions in the HIV, TB, and STI response. Our programme also delivers ongoing education on HIV, TB, and STIs and promotes research literacy. This strengthens community agency, enhances public understanding of science, and directly contributes to preventing new infections.
Grounding Our Work in Community Partnership
Community engagement at CAPRISA is a sustained and structured process across the full research lifecycle—beginning with study design and continuing through implementation, dissemination, and advocacy. By centring community voice and leadership, we advance ethical research practice, strengthen scientific integrity, and contribute to equitable access to emerging innovations and care.
Community Outreach in Action
As a research institution rooted in the communities we serve, the CAPRISA Community Programme leads:
- Community outreach and mobilisation
- Health and research literacy initiatives
- Ethical recruitment and participant support
- Community feedback, accountability, and dialogue platforms
- Advocacy for human rights, dignity, and access to services
These activities foster trust in research, enhance community participation, and promote transparent, ethical, and people-centred scientific conduct.
Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement
CAPRISA maintains strong and diverse partnerships with civil society, government structures, traditional and community leadership, youth organisations, and health stakeholders. Through these collaborations, we advance evidence-informed advocacy, strengthen community systems, and support coordinated and accountable responses to HIV and TB. These platforms ensure CAPRISA remains deeply embedded in community structures and public health governance, driving equitable and community-driven scientific progress.
Patrick Mdletshe
Head: Community Outreach
Community engagement at CAPRISA is a sustained and structured process across the full research lifecycle—beginning with study design and continuing through implementation, dissemination, and advocacy. By centring community voice and leadership, we advance ethical research practice, strengthen scientific integrity, and contribute to equitable access to emerging innovations and care.