Nguyen Vu Thuong
Pasteur Institute in
Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of the
1-year intervention of an on going 3-year project for HIV prevention among
female sex workers (FSWs) in
Methods: Intervention activities (information, education, communication, counseling and condom distribution as well as referral of FSWs to STD clinics for free diagnosis and treatment) are well done by trained peer educators who closely cooperated with health care providers and workers. Two investigations (cross sectional studies) among FSWs [less than or equal to 25yrs, including direct sex workers (DSWs: on streets, in brothels and small drink shops) and indirect sex workers (ISWs: in massage parlors, karaoke lounges, restaurants and hotels] in Soctrang were done in the year 2000 (n=250) and the year 2001 (n=400), using an interview schedule, gynecological examination and serological tests for syphilis (RPR+TPHA) and HIV (Serodia+2ELISA). Chi-square was used to test for the significant changes after 1-year intervention.
Results: The rates of consistent condom use with regular partners/lovers among ISWs (18.8% up to 66.7%) and with clients among DSWs (40% up to 67.8%) and ISWs (24.6% up to 75.3%) were significantly upward. Syphilis tended to decrease (DSWs: 6.7% down to 2.8%; ISWs: 1.1% down to 0.5%) and the prevalence of HIV seemed to be unchanged among DSWs (4.0% vs 4.2%) and increasing among ISWs (0.6% up to 1.1%) but these changes were not significant. The trends of the results were almost similar when the population of FSWs who came to live in Soctrang for less than 6 months was removed from the analysis.
Conclusions: The project has been initially
obtaining optimistic results in increasing safer sexual behavior (condom use)
and decline of STIs for HIV prevention among FSWs.