NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — It takes more than just passing along good information to stop the spread of HIV, a new US-government-backed study on HIV/AIDS prevention programmes has found.It takes “enhanced education, where you actually build their skills and don’t just give them information,” said lead author Cynthia Lyles of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in a statement.

To help arm local health agencies with the most effective HIV prevention programmes, Lyles and colleagues examined 100 HIV behavioural intervention programs developed and tested between 2000 and 2004. Their findings appear in January’s American Journal of Public Health.

They identified 18 programmes that seem to have a significant effect on reducing HIV risk behaviour and that could be adopted by local agencies and funded by the federal government.

Lyles and colleagues say the “best of” programmes tend to share one thing in common — they not only teach people about HIV and AIDS but also help them learn how to avoid falling into the trap of risky sex and what to do if they get in a high-risk situation. This is often accomplished through role-playing.

Other key components of effective HIV prevention programmes include instruction on how to use a male or female condom properly and how to communicate better with others, including negotiation and assertiveness training.

“Most importantly, many of these newly identified efficacious interventions targeted populations disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and in need of effective prevention tools,” Lyles and colleagues write.

“However, important gaps still exist.”

Lyles and colleagues point out that their government-backed review did not consider the value of needle-exchange programmes, which provide clean needles to IV drug addicts, because these programmes are not eligible for federal funding, despite evidence that they are effective.