Cultural competence in HIV prevention and care: different histories, shared future

The importance of cultural competence in social work practice is becoming increasingly more evident as the dividing lines between countries and cultures continue to fade away. Successful practice in today's global environment hinges on the ability to accept differences and to work towards a shared future. The necessity of cultural competence is painfully obvious when considering HIV prevention and care. From the start, HIV has been a global epidemic that has devastated many regions of world. The current paper examines the issue of HIV care and prevention from the perspective of Indonesia and the United States. Juxtaposition of these two countries reveals that they have approached HIV care and prevention differently because of their different histories. However, it is advanced that the two countries are likely to have a shared future given the highest infection rates are locating in similar populations, i.e., sex trade workers, intravenous drug users, street children-generally the poor, the oppressed, and their partners. Culturally competent social workers can play an important role in the fight against HIV by understanding and adapting to cultural differences and by merging best practices.