SEPTEMBER 2005 — FHI and the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly organized a training workshop on HIV/AIDS surveillance in Cairo. The training workshop was conceptualized by FHI/Egypt to build capacity in countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to design and implement second generation surveillance systems. Although HIV prevalence is reported to be low in the region, FHI believes that the earlier risk factors are identified, the better equipped programs will be to combat the spread of the epidemic.

Participants included National HIV/AIDS program managers and staff, surveillance and health statistics officers and other Ministry of Health Staff from Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Yemen. The Cairo based staff of USAID, UNAIDS and WHO also attended.

The goal of the workshop was to improve participants' understanding of second generation surveillance, how it is carried out, methods for collecting information, types of information to collect (biologic and behavioral), data analysis, and how results are used and disseminated. The epidemic in the Middle East is found primarily among stigmatized populations, thus organizers focused on the Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) methodology. RDS has been found to be effective for collecting data among hard to reach and hidden target populations, while still allowing for probability sampling.

During the training, each country team proposed draft National HIV/AIDS surveillance plans based on skills gained in the sessions. The draft plans were presented at the end of the training for comments from technical staff and other participants. Recommendations were also made on ideal methods for implementing the plans.

To further strengthen regional surveillance activities, the FHI/ Egypt office is translating into Arabic the FHI-produced textbook, Behavioral Surveillance Surveys – Guidelines for Repeated Behavioral Surveys in Populations at Risk of HIV.

Photo: The group of 35 participants at the BSS training. (FHI/Egypt.)