World Bank2014-04-212014-04-212008-04https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17938As yet, little is known about the HIV epidemic status and potential in Afghanistan. The country seems to be at an early epidemic phase with low HIV prevalence, but there are a number of underlying vulnerability factors that could lead to the conditions for epidemic expansion, including drug trafficking, the post-conflict situation with displacement of populations, a fledgling health care system, and a low level of knowledge and awareness about HIV/AIDS. As in other parts of central and south Asia, the most important proximate determinants of the scale and distribution of an HIV epidemic in Afghanistan will be the size and characteristics of high risk networks involving injecting drug users (IDUs), female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM) who are at high risk. Assessments from elsewhere in central Asia indicate an explosive growth in injecting drug use and commercial sex work throughout the region, concurrent epidemics of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and economic and political migration. As yet, little information is known about the size, distribution, and characteristics of IDU and sex worker sub-populations in Afghanistan. Therefore, the World Bank (WB) agreed with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) to contract with the University of Manitoba (UM) to conduct an assessment of these three key, high risk populations in three cities of Afghanistan (Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, and Kabul).en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADDICTIONADULT MENAGEDAIDS PROJECTARMED CONFLICTAVERAGE AGEBEHAVIOURAL CORRELATESBEHAVIOURAL DATABLOOD SAMPLESCAPACITY BUILDINGCENTRAL ASIANCIRCUMCISIONCIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONSCOMMERCIAL SEXCOMMERCIAL SEX WORKCOMMERCIAL SEX WORKERCOMMUNICABLE DISEASECOMMUNITY OUTREACHCONDOMCONDOM USECONDOMSCRIMECULTURAL BARRIERSDISEASEDISEASE SURVEILLANCEDISEASESDRUG TRAFFICKINGDRUGSEPIDEMICEPIDEMICSETHICAL CONSIDERATIONSEXERCISESFAMILIESFEMALE RESEARCHERSFEMALE SEX WORKERSFORMAL EDUCATIONGENDER ROLESGOVERNMENT OFFICESHARM REDUCTIONHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE PROVIDERSHEALTH CARE SYSTEMHEALTH RESEARCHHEALTH SERVICESHEPATITISHEPATITIS BHEPATITIS B VIRUSHEPATITIS CHIGH RISK ACTIVITIESHIGH RISK GROUPSHIGH-RISKHIGH-RISK BEHAVIOURSHIGH-RISK GROUPSHIGH-RISK POPULATIONSHIVHIV POSITIVEHIV TRANSMISSIONHOMOSEXUAL ACTSHOSPITALSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUSILLICIT DRUG USEILLICIT DRUGSIMMUNODEFICIENCYINFECTIONINFECTIOUS DISEASESINFORMED CONSENTINJECTING DRUG USEINJECTING DRUG USERSINJECTING DRUGSINJECTION DRUGINJECTION DRUG USEINJECTION EQUIPMENTINJECTION HISTORYINTERNATIONAL BORDERSINTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATIONLARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLELEGAL STATUSLEVELS OF CONDOM USELEVELS OF EDUCATIONMALE CIRCUMCISIONMALE SEXMARITAL STATUSMEDICAL RESEARCHMEDICINEMIDWIVESMODERNIZATIONNATIONAL AIDSNATIONAL AIDS CONTROLNATURAL DISASTERSNEEDLE SHARINGNEEDLESNEVER USED CONDOMNUMBER OF REFUGEESOBSTETRIC CAREPATHOLOGYPATIENTSPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONPHARMACEUTICALSPHARMACIESPHARMACISTSPHARMACYPHYSICIANSPOPULATION GROUPSPOPULATION SIZEPREGNANT WOMENPREVALENCEPRIMARY SCHOOLPRISONSPROVINCIAL HOSPITALPROVISION OF SERVICESPUBLIC HEALTHREFUGEESREHABILITATIONRELIGIOUS LEADERSRETURNEESRISK BEHAVIOURRISK FACTORSRISK GROUPSSCHOOLSSECONDARY SCHOOLSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE PROVIDERSSEX PRACTICESSEX WITH MENSEX WORKERSEX WORKERSSEXUAL BEHAVIOURSSEXUAL ENCOUNTERSSEXUAL EXPLOITATIONSEXUAL NETWORKSSEXUAL PARTNERSSEXUAL RELATIONSSEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONSSOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURESOCIAL RESEARCHSOCIAL SCIENCESSOCIAL SERVICESSOCIAL UPHEAVALSTISSTRATEGIC PRIORITYSURVEILLANCE PROJECTSYPHILISSYPHILIS TESTINGSYRINGESTBTRAINING MANUALTRANSMISSIONTUBERCULOSISURBAN AREASVOLUNTARY COUNSELLINGVULNERABILITYVULNERABLE GROUPSVULNERABLE POPULATIONSWARWOMANYOUNG AGE10.1596/17938