Mobile Populations

Since the late 1980s, FHI has been a pioneer in designing and managing HIV prevention programs in Africa and Asia for mobile populations, including for long-distance truck drivers, miners, fishermen, and members of uniformed forces stationed far from home. Mobile populations also include very vulnerable people who are forced to leave their homes due to political unrest and conflict. Some may turn to transactional sex to make a living; others may be carrying the virus as a result of rape.

 

HIV prevention programs that target these populations are crucial, since their members are not only at increased risk of HIV infection but may serve as vectors for spreading the epidemic from one region and country to another. They need access to a complete spectrum of HIV prevention options, including diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, affordable condoms, and information on assessing, reducing, and eliminating the risk of HIV infection.

 

Designing such programs is challenging, since they must transcend national boundaries as well as cultural and language differences. Often, they concentrate on border crossings where national prevention programs are often weak. Because the prevention messages as well as the services for mobile populations need to be harmonized, collaboration between countries and policy-focused, contextual interventions are key.