This volume presents an integrated epidemiologic, social, and economic
analysis of the global epidemics of HIV among sex workers in low- and
middle-income countries. The book provides a comprehensive review and
synthesis of the available public health and social science data to
characterize the nature, scope, and complexities of these epidemics. A
community empowerment-based approach to HIV prevention, treatment, and care
is outlined and demonstrated to be cost-effective across multiple settings,
with a significant projected impact on HIV incidence among sex workers and
transmission dynamics overall. The Global HIV Epidemics among Sex Workers
seeks to assist governments, public health implementing agencies, donors,
and sex worker communities to better understand and respond to the
epidemics among a population facing heightened social and structural
vulnerabilities to HIV. The book combines a systematic review of the global
epidemiology of HIV among sex workers and in-depth case studies of the
epidemiology, policy and programmatic responses and surrounding social
contexts for HIV prevention, care and treatment in eight countries. The
authors employ mathematical modeling and cost-effectiveness analysis to
assess the potential country-level impact of a community empowerment-based
approach to HIV prevention, treatment, and care among sex workers when
taken to scale in four countries representing diverse sociopolitical
contexts and HIV epidemics: Brazil, Kenya, Thailand, and Ukraine. In each
setting, greater investment in prevention, treatment, and care for sex
workers is shown to significantly reduce HIV. Together these findings
underline the urgency of further global investment in comprehensive, human
rights-based responses to HIV among sex workers.