Smoking cessation support for people with HIV in Botswana

Botswana Smoking Abstinence Reinforcement Trial (BSMART)

NIH-funded research University of Maryland Baltimore · NIH-11393129

This project brings smoking cessation support into HIV clinics in Botswana to help people living with HIV quit smoking.

Quick facts

Grant typeU01 cooperative agreement
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of Maryland Baltimore NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Baltimore, United States)
Project IDNIH-11393129 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you live with HIV and smoke, this project will add screening, brief counseling, and referrals for tobacco treatment directly into routine HIV clinic visits. Local lay health workers and non-physician clinicians will deliver the program across Botswana's HIV care network in partnership with local health services. Researchers will roll out the intervention in real clinic settings and track how well people quit smoking and how easily clinics can keep the program running. The goal is to make quitting help available where you already get HIV care and to learn what works best in Botswana.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal participants are adults living with HIV in Botswana who currently smoke and receive care at participating HIV clinics.

Not a fit: People who do not smoke, who do not have HIV, or who do not attend participating clinics in Botswana are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce smoking-related cancers and premature deaths among people living with HIV by making quitting support part of routine HIV care.

How similar studies have performed: SBIRT and other clinic-based smoking cessation approaches have helped people quit in high-income settings and some studies show promise in people with HIV, but large-scale implementation in low- and middle-income countries like Botswana remains limited.

Where this research is happening

Baltimore, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome VirusAcquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Virus
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.