Prevention program of HIV infection in Ethiopian new immigrants to Israel

In 1991, more than 15,000 Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel after spending more than a year in Addis Ababa. They came from remote villages and had had no contact with modern medicine for centuries. About 2% of these new immigrants were found to be HIV positive. Their completely different background forced the Israeli government to develop a special educational program explaining about the modes of HIV infection and prevention measures. The staff participating in the program were mainly Ethiopian Jews who immigrated to Israel before 1990 and were employed as nurses or social workers. The goal of the study was to prevent the spread of the virus; thus the target population was those who were infected with HIV. As most of them were illiterate, posters with pictures were used to explain risk factors, and lectures were given explaining what a virus is and, especially, the "carrier state". Using this program the spread of HIV inside the Ethiopian community seems to have diminished.