MENA Think Tank Stigma and HIV Prevention

描述(由申请人提供)：纽约州精神病学研究所的艾滋病毒临床和行为研究中心和哥伦比亚大学与摩洛哥卫生部国家卫生研究所和加州大学洛杉矶分校全球卫生计划合作，提议开展一个针对中东/北非(MENA)的关于艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名和艾滋病毒预防的智库。这次研讨会将邀请来自中东和北非地区和美国的行为、社会和生物医学领域的专家参加；一系列关于污名对艾滋病毒/艾滋病易感性的地区影响的手稿将在会议上进行委托和审查。手稿系列的最终版本将与智库提出的主要建议一起发表在同行评议的期刊上。在中东和北非，艾滋病毒/艾滋病的污名和歧视被广泛认为是预防和护理的严重障碍，助长了艾滋病毒的传播，阻碍了监测工作。在该地区，艾滋病毒和性传播感染与阿拉伯和伊斯兰文化禁止的不道德和行为有关，公共卫生官员和提供者将污名描述为艾滋病毒预防的持续挑战。尽管对艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名的重要性达成了共识，但人们对该地区针对减少污名的现有方案和战略知之甚少。关于艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名的科学定性和衡量更是知之甚少；现有的许多资料都是模糊的、投机性的，而且往往仅限于对其后果的观察性描述。确定艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名的区域驱动因素具有直接和长期的科学和公共卫生意义，这种污名使中东和北非地区的大批人口无法保护自己或获得护理。我们将召开中东和北非地区污名和艾滋病毒预防智库会议，以(1)界定和描述引起中东和北非地区艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名的个人、文化和结构性因素；(2)为中东和北非地区艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名的测量和监测制定一个分析框架；(3)制作一系列有针对性的手稿，作为相关同行评议期刊的特刊集体出版；(4)制定和传播中东和北非地区特有的艾滋病毒/艾滋病污名研究议程；以及(5)建立研究伙伴关系，以产生将在会议上阐明的研究议程上的具体研究建议和项目。拟议的智库将取得具体成果--在同行评议的期刊上发表文章，建立中东和北非艾滋病毒/艾滋病网络，以及具体的合作研究项目和建议--这些成果将建立持久的伙伴关系，为该领域作出科学和方案贡献。我们正在具体构建拟议的智库，以形成更强有力的区域合作，以在中东和北非地区开展与艾滋病毒污名有关的具体研究项目，并为支持这项工作提供资金。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, in collaboration with the National Institute of Hygiene of the Moroccan Ministry of Health and the UCLA Program in Global Health, propose to conduct a Middle East/North Africa (MENA)-specific Think Tank on HIV/AIDS stigma and HIV prevention. This workshop will engage experts in the behavioral, social, and biomedical sciences from throughout the MENA region and the US; a series of manuscripts addressing the regional impact of stigma on HIV/AIDS vulnerability will be commissioned and reviewed at the meeting. Final versions of the manuscript series will be published in a peer-reviewed journal along with the major recommendations emanating from the Think Tank. HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in the Middle East and North Africa are widely cited as critical barriers to prevention and care, facilitating HIV transmission and impeding surveillance efforts. Within the region, where HIV and STIs are associated with immorality and behaviors prohibited by Arab and Islamic culture, public health officials and providers describe stigma as an ongoing challenge to HIV prevention. Despite consensus on the importance of HIV/AIDS stigma, little is known about existing programs and strategies that target stigma reduction in the region. Even less is known regarding the scientific characterization and measurement of HIV/AIDS stigma; much of what is available is vague, speculative, and often limited to observational accounts of its consequences. Characterization of regional drivers of HIV/AIDS stigma, which prevents large MENA populations from protecting themselves or accessing care, has both immediate and long-term scientific and public health significance. We will convene the MENA Think Tank on Stigma and HIV Prevention to (1) define and characterize individual, cultural, and structural factors giving rise to MENA region-specific HIV/AIDS stigma; (2) develop an analytical framework for measurement and surveillance of HIV/AIDS stigma in the Middle East and North Africa; (3) produce a focused series of manuscripts to be published collectively as a Special Issue of a relevant peer-reviewed journal; (4) develop and disseminate a MENA region-specific HIV/AIDS stigma research agenda; and (5) create research partnerships that result in concrete research proposals and projects following on the research agenda to be articulated at the conference. The proposed Think Tank will have concrete outcomes - publications in peer-reviewed journals, formation of a MENA network on HIV/AIDS, and specific collaborative research projects and proposals - that will build lasting partnerships to make scientific and programmatic contributions to the field. We are specifically structuring the proposed Think Tank to result in the formation of stronger regional collaborations to pursue specific research projects related to HIV stigma in the MENA region, as well as the funding to support such work.