Background: Planners, providers, and users of prevention services, as well as researchers need easy access to findings of intervention studies to make informed decisions. However, it is increasingly difficult to stay current with and to integrate the findings from the wide variety of intervention research available. In addition, reported information on intervention content, methods, or the target population is often not detailed enough to meet local prevention needs. Objective: To develop and disseminate a range of science-based products to meet the needs of different HIV prevention audiences.

Methods: In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiated the Prevention Research Synthesis (PRS) and the Replicating Effective Programs (REP) projects. The PRS project aims to accumulate all existing HIV prevention intervention studies and to analyze their effectiveness in reducing sex and drug risk behaviors for HIV transmission. The PRS team developed standardized guidelines for selecting and evaluating studies, conducted extensive searches, and compiled systematic reviews on different risk behavior areas. Rigorous studies of behavioral or social interventions that showed positive results for behavioral or health outcomes were identified for a Compendium of HIV Prevention Interventions with Evidence of Effectiveness. The REP project aims to enhance the capacity of local HIV prevention organizations to implement and sustain effective and feasible behavioral and social interventions. The REP team selects effective interventions and supports the original researchers and community-based partners in translating these interventions into user-friendly packages of materials, which are then field-tested. Websites were developed to advertise the products from the PRS and REP projects.

Results: The results from the PRS and REP projects to date include: * Search strategies for identifying HIV prevention intervention studies; * An international register of nearly 500 HIV prevention intervention studies; * A standardized framework for selecting and analyzing relevant and rigorous intervention studies; * Meta-analyses of HIV prevention effectiveness for young people, heterosexual adults, men who have sex with men, and drug users; * A compendium of 24 HIV prevention interventions with evidence of effectiveness; * Four user-friendly packages of intervention materials that prevention providers can adopt and implement in their own communities (3 more packages are under development); * Pilot training sessions to prepare agencies to conduct REP-packaged interventions. Conclusion: To maximize science-based policy and practice in HIV prevention, a range of products to meet the needs of different audiences has been developed. A systematic review effort provided the basis for this work.