HIV Surveillance in Key Populations, 16-20 October 2023

Description

The aim of the course is to provide participants with practical guidance on how to design bio-behavioural HIV surveys and conduct estimation of the size of key populations (female sex workers [FSW], people who inject drugs [PWID], men who have sex with men [MSM]) and transgender persons), conduct these studies, and analyze, interpret and use the data. The course will outline the approaches that can be used for extrapolating local data to develop national size estimates by applying various adjustments.

 The course will provide a detailed outline of design of integrated bio-behavioural HIV surveys (IBBS) that are based on time-location (TLS) and respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Presentations and exercises will address a number of issues relevant for the appropriate implementation of IBBS, data analysis and construction and interpretation of key indicators.

Presentations will also reflect on various methods of population size estimation (PSE) methods that are most commonly used, including the emerging new approach of virtual mapping.

The course will also describe how to generate HIV prevention and treatment casedes in KPs, using IBBS, PSE and routine programme data.

 Lectures will be followed by discussions about case studies to enable interactive exchange of knowledge and experiences.

Key topics of the course are:

• Design and implementation of TLS and RDS
• Methods used to estimate the size of KPs: mapping (including mapping of virtual platforms); multiplier method; two and three-source capture-recapture;
• Circumstances when it is appropriate to use specific size estimation methods
• Extrapolation from local size estimation to sub-national and national estimates using extrapolation procedures
• Data quality challenges in IBBS and PSE studies
• Framework for HIV prevention and treatment cascade
• Use of HIV cascades as management tools that identify gaps and related barriers and as advocacy tools for indicating points for intervention to enhance programme effectiveness

Participants will be given opportunities to share their own country-specific experiences and challenges in IBBS and estimating the size of KPs.

Key aspects of the course is a group/individual work on development of protocols/ proposals. Participants can choose between these options:

1. To develop a protocol for an IBBS or a PSE study
2. To construct  HIV prevention or treatment cascades using their own data

Participants will present the results of this work on the final day of the course.

Teaching Methods

The course consists of lectures, presentation of case studies, active class discussion, exercises and group work. The course is designed to provide participants with practical skills and knowledge on how to conduct size estimation studies.

Venue of the course

The course will be held  from 16-20 October 2023 at the School of Medicine, Salata 3 in Zagreb, Croatia.

Target Audience

Epidemiologists, demographers, public health professionals, social scientists

Lecturers

Professor George Rutherford, MD, Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco

Associate professor Ivana Bozicevic, MD, DrPH, Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for HIV Strategic Information, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Zoran Dominković, WHO Collaborating Centre for HIV Strategic Information, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Programme