The 7th Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS) 2025 Conference, hosted at the Century City Conference Centre, Cape Town (20-22 August 2025), brought together frontline clinicians, researchers, policy experts, and health workers to address critical issues shaping the HIV epidemic in Southern Africa. Organised by SAHCS, a professional body of over 10,000 healthcare professionals, the 2025 edition maintained its reputation as a platform for innovation, integration, and evidence-based practice.
One of the conference’s most compelling voices was Prof Lufuno Makhado, the professor in the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, whose three presentations in three sessions across Day 2 of the conference solidified the essential role of mental health and psychosocial well-being integration within the HIV care continuum. His contributions were deeply aligned with this year’s conference theme, “Turning Evidence into Action in the Era of Innovation and Integration,” and advanced the SAHCS agenda of translating clinical science into scalable, real-world interventions. Prof Makhado’s Presentations under the following sessions.
Kicking off Day 2, Prof Makhado joined the Skills Building Session titled “From Evidence to Action – The Role of Implementation Science in Culturally Competent HIV Care”. His talk, “Scaling What Works: Translating Evidence into Real-World HIV Interventions,” focused on how implementation science can bridge the gap between research findings and frontline healthcare delivery. He emphasised the necessity of culturally competent interventions and demonstrated how tailoring HIV programmes to local psychosocial contexts increases uptake, adherence, and retention. By grounding clinical strategies in community realities, Prof Makhado illustrated the kind of responsive care that SAHCS advocate for.
“We need to implement what communities need, not what systems assume they need. Cultural competence is the backbone of evidence-based care,” said Prof Makhado. In his closing, he add-ed, “To truly scale what works, we must move beyond simply knowing what works. We must com-mit to doing what works—together. Implementation science gives us the tools, but it is cultural competence and community co-ownership that give our interventions life and lasting power. As we stand at the intersection of evidence and equity, let us continue to design, implement, and sustain HIV care that is effective, inclusive, affirming, and rooted in the lived realities of those it serves. Because when we implement with context, care, and courage, South Africa leads not only in science, but in societal impact.”
This presentation was aligned with the SAHCS conference Tracks: Operations Research, Clinical Skills Building, Primary Health Care, and Nursing.
Later that day, Prof Makhado returned to the podium where he presented on “Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for people living with HIV (PLHIV).” This session highlighted the syner-gistic relationship between mental health and HIV outcomes, especially among key vulnerable groups: older adults, adolescents, and newly diagnosed individuals. Makhado presented struc-tured models for incorporating mental health screening protocols and referral systems in HIV outpatient settings, citing evidence that co-managed care significantly improves long-term reten-tion and viral suppression.
“You can’t treat the virus and ignore the trauma,” Prof Makhado noted, advocating for task-shar-ing models and nurse-led psychosocial support programmes. His closing remarks emphasised that “Psychosocial support is not an optional addition to HIV care; it is a lifeline. By addressing stigma, strengthening mental health, and integrating community-driven support into treatment programmes, we can empower individuals living with HIV to not only survive but also thrive with dignity, resilience, and hope. Maintaining psychosocial well-being is essential for sustaining treat-ment success.”
The track alignment includes several important areas of focus: Non-Communicable Diseases, Paediatric and Adolescent Health, Primary Health Care and Nursing, and Operations Research. Each of these fields plays a crucial role in improving health outcomes and advancing healthcare practices.
In the final session of Day 2, Prof Makhado joined the panel on “The HIV Care Cascade Within the Community Healthcare System.” His talk centred on “psychosocial and behavioural man-agement across the cascade,” from diagnosis to long-term adherence. He explored integrated models of care that link community mental health services to ART delivery, demonstrating how early psychosocial support, especially for adolescents and women, reduces loss to follow-up. He also introduced a community resilience framework developed through participatory research, reinforcing SAHCS’s commitment to locally grounded, people-first HIV healthcare. “Behavioural health is not a luxury; it’s the missing link in care cascade success,” he asserted.
Prof Makhado’s presentations perfectly align with the SAHCS agenda, which prioritises the translation of research into action, especially in primary care and community contexts. His evi-dence-based, scalable, and culturally relevant frameworks provide a roadmap for addressing the growing mental health burden among PLHIV, especially in resource-limited outpatient settings. Prof Makhado’s contributions in the SAHCS highlighted that mental health is a central pillar in the effectiveness of HIV programmes, rather than an adjacent issue.
Through these conference sessions, Prof Makhado’s voice resonated as both clinician and public health strategist, calling for:
•Psychosocial support to be embedded in ART delivery.
•Community-informed, culturally competent care models.
•Primary care providers are to be equipped for integrated mental health screening and referral.
As the SAHCS Conference continues to foster actionable innovation, Prof Makhado’s research and field-driven insights offer a blueprint for holistic, integrated HIV care, one that can truly re-spond to the complexities of human experience in the fight against HIV.
Prof Lufuno Makhado’s impactful presence at the SAHCS 2025 Conference not only highlighted the urgency of integrating mental health into HIV care but also served as a proud moment for the University of Venda and its Department of Public Health. Through his triple-session engage-ment, Prof Makhado demonstrated the depth of academic leadership and applied public health research emerging from the University, affirming its position as a key player in Southern Africa’s public health transformation.
Issued by:
Department of Marketing, Branding and Communication
University of Venda
Tel: 082 868 2218 / 082 868 1811
