HIV Prevention Among High Risk Men in South Africa

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a need to develop effective HIV prevention interventions for high-risk men in sub-Saharan Africa, yet very little specific cultural, behavioral, or epidemiological data exists about these populations. Such information is crucial to the development and evaluation of behavioral interventions that can prevent the sexual transmission of HIV. This project aims to provide this preliminary information for high-risk men in Soweto, South Africa, and has two specific aims: 1) to examine the collective and individual belief systems of high-risk men related to their sexuality, sexual health, choice of sexual partners, use of drugs and alcohol, use of condoms, utilization of health services, HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), and disclosure of HIV status, in order to describe prevailing cultural norms around these subjects' behaviors; 2) to provide a baseline assessment of high risk men's experiences with VCT and to measure the prevalence of HIV risk factors and HIV infection in a probability sample of high-risk men. The project will provide preliminary data to be used in the development of an intervention for this community of men in Soweto that can be tested in an RO1-funded proposal.