Introduction

Knowing your environments of HIV risk and impact is an important element of any HIV prevention and care program.  Knowing who is at greater risk for HIV, why they are at greater risk, and the factors that move people into and out of that environment are all important pieces of information that will help you to design interventions that are appropriate for your context. So will knowing who is being impacted by HIV and what support are care they care receiving.  

Environments of risk and impact are bigger and more complex than ‘hotspots’ of risk activity. They include locations commonly known as ‘hotspots’, but they also describe the people who move through the environment, how they relate to each other, who has power over their lives and who does not.  Knowing the environment also means knowing what help and assistance is available, who has access to this and who might be prevented from having access and why. These environments are very dynamic. They change. Power dynamics shift. Knowledge about environments needs to be regularly updated.

Why is knowing about key populations and the environment of HIV risk & impact helpful?

Knowing your environment of risk will help you to:

• Understand who is most at risk for HIV in that particular location

• Understand why they are at risk

• Understanding who is affected by HIV, and what support is available to them

• Understand the critical enablers that might increase risk for HIV:

  • Alcohol and drug use

  • Culture, gender, social, religious factors

  • Mobility and employment patterns

With this information, you will be able to:

• Design interventions that best meet the needs of key populations

• Recruit members of key populations to access their peers

• Mobilise others from within the environment to assist

• Coordinate efforts

Strategies
Look at available research

Key Population research in PNG

Do your own scans and studies