HIV and IDPs

A global consultation on the effects of HIV on internally displaced populations was held last week in Geneva (April 24-25). The aim of the meeting was to "help...identify gaps, plan joint programmes and improve services for IDPs." A call was made for more research into the HIV infection rates among displaced people. One 2006 study of eight countries that host IDPs noted that "[l]ittle is currently known about HIV among conflict-affected internally displaced persons (IDPs) despite claims that conflict increases HIV among IDPs, that they have high HIV infection rates, and that they lack adequate HIV interventions."

One way to track research reported in the medical literature is to create an RSS feed from PubMed searches. For example, enter the search >HIV AND (displaced OR armed conflict OR humanitarian)<, click on "go" to generate your results; from the "send to" drop-down menu, select "RSS feed," and "create feed." Copy and paste the resulting feed into your newsreader; it will update when new matches are made to your search criteria. (Note the record for the article entitled "HIV-1 prevalence and factors associated with infection in the conflict-affected region of North Uganda" from March 2007 that is available in full-text.)

Other resources relating to HIV/AIDS and displacement include:

- IASC, Guidelines for HIV/AIDS Interventions in Emergency Settings (2003) [text]

- ReliefWeb, HIV/AIDS Policy and Issues Documents [access]

- UNAIDS & UNHCR, Policy Brief: HIV and Refugees (2007) [text]

- UNHCR, Refugees and HIV/AIDS page [access]

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.