Programmatic Mapping: Providing Evidence for High Impact HIV Prevention Programs for Female Sex Workers

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Estimating key populations like female sex workers (FSWs) is crucial for public health interventions.
• Existing methods may lack efficiency or geographic specificity for targeted service delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the experiences and lessons learned from using Programmatic Mapping (PM) to develop HIV prevention programs for FSWs.
• To highlight the utility of PM in resource allocation, target setting, and service delivery strategies.

Main Methods:

• Programmatic Mapping (PM) was employed to rapidly estimate and geolocate FSW populations.
• Data collected included FSW estimates, hot spot identification, and operational details (times, days).
• Community involvement of FSWs was integral to the PM process.

Main Results:

• PM provides macro-level data for resource allocation and micro-level insights for targeted interventions.
• The approach facilitates the planning of large-scale HIV prevention and treatment services.
• Involvement of FSWs fostered community ownership and potentially increased service uptake.

Conclusions:

• Programmatic Mapping is a versatile and effective tool for understanding sex work dynamics and informing HIV programs.
• The method, despite limitations, can be adapted across diverse country contexts.
• PM generates reliable data for evidence-based planning and scaling of HIV services for FSWs.