Abstract
We evaluated a two-phase HIV/STIs prevention intervention for female sex workers in a resource-limited rural town in Hainan Province, China. The primary intervention strategy, conducted from 1997 to 2000, was a condom promotion campaign conducted through outreach to sex workers. Four serial cross-sectional surveys were carried out before and after the intervention. Over a period of 2 years, reported condom use during the most recent sexual encounter increased from about 50% to more than 70%; and condom use in more than 50% of sexual acts during the past 6 months increased from less than 40% to near 80% of respondents. Controlling for education, ethnicity and age, reading of educational materials (our intervention variable) was a significant contributor to a higher knowledge score, motivation to use condoms, and reported condom use. This study demonstrates that outreach to female sex workers, if appropriately tailored to local settings, can increase condom use in a resource-limited rural area.
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Acknowledgment
We thank the World Bank, the Norwegian government and Novib in the Netherlands for providing financial and technical support for this project; Dr. Jean Schensul from the Institute of Community Research, Hartford, Connecticut, USA, for sharing her knowledge and research experience with us; and the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, USA, for supporting the preparation of this manuscript. We particularly acknowledge the tremendous contribution of the project staff at different levels, and the support of county and township governments of the study site.
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Liao, SS., He, QY., Choi, KH. et al. Working to Prevent HIV/STIs Among Women in the Sex Industry in a Rural Town of Hainan, China. AIDS Behav 10 (Suppl 1), 35–45 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9143-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9143-1