February 2004

Community Approaches and Government Policy Reduce HIV Risk in the Dominican Republic

Effective programs that avert new HIV infections among sex workers and their partners, and hence the general population, are critical components of national HIV prevention strategies. Prevention efforts have frequently relied on interventions that reach members of these vulnerable groups as individuals, such as condom promotion and STI management. Now, many researchers and program implementers are increasingly turning to "environmental-structural" interventions that address the physical, social, and political contexts in which individual behavior takes place.

Two environmental-structural approaches have recently been shown to increase rates of condom use and decrease STI prevalence among female sex workers. One focuses on community development and mobilization to build a collective commitment to prevention, such as the Sonagachi Project in Calcutta, India (Jana 1998). The second involves government-sponsored initiatives, including the "100 Percent Condom Program" in Thailand, that utilize a government policy mandating condom use in brothels (Rojanapithayakorn 1996).

A recent Horizons study conducted jointly with two Dominican NGOs—Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN) and Centro de Promoción e Solidaridad Humana (CEPROSH)—and the National Program for the Control of STDs and AIDS (DIGECITSS) assessed the impact of two environmental-structural models in reducing HIV-related risk among female sex workers in the Dominican Republic and compared their cost-effectiveness. The models, built on years of experience gained from sex worker peer education programs, drew from the strengths of both community solidarity and government policy initiatives and engaged community members in both program and policy development.

• Description of the Intervention

• Methods

• Key Findings

• Conclusions

• References

• PDF format of summary (77 KB)

Study Investigators

The study investigators are Deanna Kerrigan, Horizons/Johns Hopkins University; Luis Moreno and Santo Rosario, COIN; Bayardo Gomez and Hector Jerez, CEPROSH; Ellen Weiss, Horizons/International Center for Research on Women (ICRW); Johannes van Dam, Horizons/Population Council; Eva Roca, ICRW, formerly Horizons; and Clare Barrington and Michael Sweat, Johns Hopkins University.

For more information about the study, contact Luis Moreno (coin@codetel.net.do) or Deanna Kerrigan (dkerriga@jhsph.edu).

Suggested citation: Kerrigan, D. et al. 2004. "Community approaches and government policy reduce HIV risk in the Dominican Republic,” Horizons Research Summary. Washington, DC: Population Council.

About Horizons

Horizons conducts global operations research to improve prevention, care, and support program.

Horizons is implemented by the Population Council under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Horizons is implemented by the Population Council in partnership with the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Tulane University, Family Health International (FHI), and Johns Hopkins University.

See Also

• Population Council – Dominican Republic
• Population Council – HIV/AIDS

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For additional information please contact: 
Horizons 
Population Council 
4301 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 280 
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: +1 202 237 9400 
Facsimile: +1 202 237 8410 
E-mail: horizons@popcouncil.org 

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This page updated 27 January 2006

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