***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
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    Input: Partner  notification ( PN )  is an important method for controlling the AIDS epidemic worldwide . Here , we looked into the differences between two PN counseling modes for HIV ( + ) men who have sex with men in Taiwan . Using r and om assignment , we placed 42 of the 84 subjects into the experimental group where they received two sessions of PN counseling , while the control group ( 42 ) received only one session .  All 84 subjects were single males with an average age of 28.06 .  The mean number of successful notified partner was 5.38 ( SD = 3.44 ) in the experimental which was statistically significantly higher than 2.81 ( SD = 1.62 ) in the control group ( β = 0.650 , p = 0.000 ) . The notification success rate was 77.13 % in the experimental and 74.21 % in the control group ( IRR 1.039 , 95 % CI 0.83–1.30 ) . In the experimental and control group , the average number of the partners accepted an HIV test was 1.86 ( SD = 1.58 ) and 0.79 ( SD = 0.66 ) ( β = 0.601 , p = 0.000 ) , and 39.74 and 27.27 % of the tested partners were HIV positive ( IRR 1.457 , 95 % CI 0.69–3.06 ) . The study results may be used to improve the policies and practice s for PN and contact follow-up Background Partner services ( PSs ) are a long-st and ing component of HIV control programs in the United States and some parts of Europe . Small r and omized trials suggest that HIV PS can be effective in identifying persons with undiagnosed HIV infection . However , the scalability and effectiveness of HIV PS in low-income countries are unknown . Methods We used data collected from 2009 to 2010 through a large HIV PS program in Cameroon to evaluate HIV PS in a developing country . HIV-positive index cases diagnosed in antenatal care , voluntary counseling and testing , and inpatient facilities were interviewed to collect information on their sexual partners . Partners were contacted via telephone or home visit to notify , test , and enroll those found to be HIV positive in medical care . Results Health advisors interviewed 1462 persons with HIV infection during the evaluation period ; these persons provided information about 1607 sexual partners . Health advisors notified 1347 ( 83.8 % ) of these partners , of whom 900 ( 66.8 % ) were HIV tested . Of partners tested , 451 ( 50.1 % ) were HIV positive , of whom 386 ( 85.6 % ) enrolled into HIV medical care . An average 3.2 index cases needed to be interviewed to identify 1 HIV case . Conclusions HIV PS can be successfully implemented in a developing country and is highly effective in identifying persons with HIV infection  and linking them to care BACKGROUND We sought to compare two methods of notifying sex partners of subjects infected with the human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) or persons who had shared needles with them ( needle-sharing partners )  : " patient referral , " in which the responsibility for notifying partners was left to the patient , and " provider referral , " in which providers attempted to notify partners . METHODS Names of sex partners and needle-sharing partners and information on how to locate them were obtained from consenting HIV-infected subjects identified in the HIV-testing programs at three public health departments in North Carolina . The subjects were r and omly assigned to a patient-referral group ( in which patients had the initial responsibility for notifying their partners ) or a provider-referral group ( in which the study counselor notified the partners ) . The success of attempts to notify partners was monitored by means of interviews with counselors conducted both in the field and at the health department . RESULTS Of 534 HIV-positive persons identified at the health departments , 247 ( 46 percent ) did not return for counseling after the test , 8 were counseled outside the study , and 117 ( 22 percent ) were ineligible . Of the 162 invited to participate , 88 ( 54 percent ) declined and 74 ( 46 percent ) agreed . The subjects were mostly male ( 69 percent ) , black ( 87 percent ) , homosexual or bisexual ( 76 percent of the men ) , and had a median age of 30 years . Thirty-nine were assigned to the provider-referral group and 35 to the patient-referral group . In the provider-referral group 78 of 157 partners ( 50 percent ) were successfully notified , whereas in the patient-referral group only 10 of 153 ( 7 percent ) were notified . Of the partners notified by the counselors , 94 percent were not aware that they had been exposed to HIV . Overall , 23 percent of the partners notified and tested were HIV-positive . CONCLUSIONS In this trial , leaving the notification of partners up to the subjects ( patient referral ) was quite ineffective , despite the North Carolina law requiring that partners be notified . Partner notification by public health counselors ( provider referral ) was significantly more effective . Although the effectiveness of notification procedures is constrained by the accuracy of the information provided by HIV-infected patients , counselors who notify the partners of an infected patient can refer them to educational , medical , and support services targeted to persons at high risk for HIV infection and may encourage the adoption of less risky behavior BACKGROUND Assisted partner services for index patients with HIV infections involves elicitation of information about sex partners and contacting them to ensure that they test for HIV and link to care . Assisted partner services are not widely available in Africa . We aim ed to establish whether or not assisted partner services increase HIV testing , diagnoses , and linkage to care among sex partners of people with HIV infections in Kenya . METHODS In this cluster r and omised controlled trial , we recruited non-pregnant adults aged at least 18 years with newly or recently diagnosed HIV without a recent history of intimate partner violence who had not yet or had only recently linked to HIV care from 18 HIV testing services clinics in Kenya . Consenting sites in Kenya were r and omly assigned ( 1:1 ) by the study statistician ( restricted r and omisation ; balanced distribution in terms of county and proximity to a city ) to immediate versus delayed assisted partner services . Primary outcomes were the number of partners tested for HIV , the number who tested HIV positive , and the number enrolled in HIV care , in those who were interviewed at 6 week follow-up . Participants within each cluster were masked to treatment allocation because participants within each cluster received the same intervention . This trial is registered with Clinical Trials.gov , number NCT01616420 . FINDINGS Between Aug 12 , 2013 , and Aug 31 , 2015 , we r and omly allocated 18 clusters to immediate and delayed HIV assisted partner services ( nine in each group ) , enrolling 1305 participants : 625 ( 48 % ) in the immediate group and 680 ( 52 % ) in the delayed group . 6 weeks after enrolment of index patients , 392 ( 67 % ) of 586 partners had tested for HIV in the immediate group and 85 ( 13 % ) of 680 had tested in the delayed group ( incidence rate ratio 4·8 , 95 % CI 3·7 - 6·4 ) . 136 ( 23 % ) partners had new HIV diagnoses in the immediate group compared with 28 ( 4 % ) in the delayed group ( 5·0 , 3·2 - 7·9 ) and 88 ( 15 % ) versus 19 ( 3 % ) were newly enrolled in care ( 4·4 , 2·6 - 7·4 ) . Assisted partner services did not increase intimate partner violence ( one intimate partner violence event related to partner notification or study procedures occurred in each group ) . INTERPRETATION Assisted partner services are safe and increase HIV testing and case-finding ; implementation at the population level could enhance linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy initiation and substantially decrease HIV transmission . FUNDING National Institutes of Health OBJECTIVE This analysis describes the Outreach-Assisted Model of Partner Notification , an innovative strategy for encouraging seropositive injecting drug users ( IDUs ) to inform their partners of shared human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) exposure . The analysis focuses on two core components of the notification process : the identification of at-risk partners and preferences for self-tell vs. outreach assistance in informing partners of possible exposure to the virus . METHODS Using community outreach techniques , 386 IDUs were recruited for HIV pretest counseling , testing , and partner notification over a 12-month period . Of these , 63 tested HIV seropositive , and all but three returned for their test results . The 60 who were informed of their serostatus were r and omly assigned to either a minimal or an enhanced intervention condition . Participants assigned to the minimal ( self-tell ) group were strongly encouraged to inform their partners of possible exposure . Those assigned to the enhanced ( outreach-assisted ) group had the option of either informing one or more of their partner(s ) themselves or choosing to have the project 's outreach team do so . RESULTS Together , the 60 index persons who received their results provided names or at least one piece of locating information for a total of 142 partners with whom they perceived having shared possible exposure to the virus within the past five years . By itself , drug use accounted for half of all partners named . Sexual behavior alone accounted for 25 % of named partners . Eighty-two percent of the enhanced group preferred to have the outreach team tell at least one partner ; the team was requested to notify 71 % of the total number of partners whom this group named . CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that IDUs want to notify their partners of shared HIV exposure . Outreach assistance was the preferred mode in the majority of cases . Exp and ing traditional community-based HIV outreach activities to include delivering street-based counseling , test , a partner notification appears to be a positive and workable prevention strategy Background : Sexual partners of persons with newly diagnosed HIV infection require HIV counseling , testing and , if necessary , evaluation for therapy . However , many African countries do not have a st and ardized protocol for partner notification , and the effectiveness of partner notification has not been evaluated in developing countries . Methods : Individuals with newly diagnosed HIV infection presenting to sexually transmitted infection clinics in Lilongwe , Malawi , were r and omized to 1 of 3 methods of partner notification : passive referral , contract referral , or provider referral . The passive referral group was responsible for notifying their partners themselves . The contract referral group was given seven days to notify their partners , after which a health care provider contacted partners who had not reported for counseling and testing . In the provider referral group , a health care provider notified partners directly . Results : Two hundred forty-five index patients named 302 sexual partners and provided locator information for 252 . Among locatable partners , 107 returned for HIV counseling and testing ; 20 of 82 [ 24 % ; 95 % confidence interval ( CI ) : 15 % to 34 % ] partners returned in the passive referral arm , 45 of 88 ( 51 % ; 95 % CI : 41 % to 62 % ) in the contract referral arm , and 42 of 82 ( 51 % ; 95 % CI : 40 % to 62 % ) in the provider referral arm ( P < 0.001 ) . Among returning partners ( n = 107 ) , 67 ( 64 % ) of were HIV infected with 54 ( 81 % ) newly diagnosed . Discussion : This study provides the first evidence of the effectiveness of partner notification in sub-Saharan Africa . Active partner notification was feasible , acceptable , and effective among sexually transmitted infections clinic patients . Partner notification will increase early referral to care and facilitate risk reduction among high-risk uninfected partners Objective : Determine the cost and effectiveness of partner notification for human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) infection . Methods : Persons testing HIV positive in three areas were r and omly assigned one of four approaches to partner notification . Analysis plans changed because disease intervention specialists notified many partners from the patient referral group . We dropped the patient referral group and combined the others to assess the cost and effectiveness of provider referral . Results : The 1,070 patients reported 8,633 partners . Of those , 1,035 were located via record search or in person . A previous positive test was reported by 248 partners . Of the 787 others , 560 were tested : 438 were HIV negative and 122 were newly identified as HIV positive . The  intervention specialist 's time totaled 197 minutes per index patient . The cost of the intervention specialist 's time , travel , and overhead was $ 268,425 : $ 251 per index patient , $ 427 per partner notified , or $ 2,200 per new HIV infection identified . No demographic characteristic of the index patient strongly predicted the likelihood of finding an infected partner . Conclusion : We could not compare the effectiveness of different partner notification approaches because of frequent crossover between r and omized groups . The cost of partner notification can be compared with other approaches to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome prevention , but the benefits are not easily measured . We do not know the number of HIV cases prevented or the value of fulfilling the ethical obligation to warn partners of a potential threat to their health The incidence of human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) infection has significantly increased among black men who have sex with men ( MSM ) in the United States , and young black MSM have been disproportionately affected . HIVinfected black MSM are also less likely to engage in HIV care and achieve viral suppression than MSM of other races/ethnicities . Eng 
    Output:
    
Conclusion : Assisted partner notification  improved partner testing and diagnosis of HIV-positive partners  , with few reports of harm .