Islamic Influence on HIV Risk and Protection Among Central Asian Male Migrant Workers in Kazakhstan.

HIV incidence is increasing in Central Asia, where migrant workers experience risks for acquiring sexually transmitted HIV. As a social and structural factor that may influence perceptions and behavior, we examine how Islam shapes HIV risk and protection. Phenomenological qualitative interviews examine religion and contexts of HIV risk among 48 male Central Asian migrant workers residing in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Multi-level risk factors associated with sex trading among women living with HIV in Kazakhstan: A neglected key population.

Little is known about the prevalence and risk factors associated with sex trading among HIV-positive women. A total of 242 HIV-positive women were recruited in five regions in Kazakhstan. These women completed a survey containing items on socio-demographics, HIV stigma, intimate partner violence, and partner risk behaviors.

Identifying risk factors associated with smear positivity of pulmonary tuberculosis in Kazakhstan.

Background: Sputum smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) patients have a high risk of transmission and are of great epidemiological and infection control significance. Little is known about the smear-positive populations in high TB burden regions, such as Kazakhstan. The objective of this study is to characterize the smear-positive population in Kazakhstan and identify associated modifiable risk factors.

Factors associated with self-rated health among migrant workers: results from a population-based cross-sectional study in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Objectives: To determine factors associated with SRH among migrant workers in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Methods: In 2007, 805 vendors were screened. Approximately half were eligible (n =450), defined as at least 18 years old, a worker/owner in a randomly selected stall, having traveled 2 + hours outside of Almaty within the past year, and being an internal/external migrant.

Risks for tuberculosis in Kazakhstan: implications for prevention.

Setting: Four regions in Kazakhstan where participants were recruited from June 2012 to May 2014.

Objective: To examine associations between incarceration history and tobacco, alcohol, and drug consumption, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and diabetes mellitus (DM) with TB.

Design: This matched case-control study included 1600 participants who completed a survey on sociodemographics, history of incarceration, tobacco, alcohol and drug use, and HIV and DM diagnosis.

What Prevents Central Asian Migrant Workers from Accessing HIV Testing? Implications for Increasing HIV Testing Uptake in Kazakhstan.

Several barriers prevent key populations, such as migrant workers, from accessing HIV testing. Using data from a cross-sectional study among Central Asian migrant workers (n = 623) in Kazakhstan, we examined factors associated with HIV testing. Overall, 48% of participants had ever received an HIV test.

HIV testing and access to HIV medical care among people who inject drugs and their intimate partners in Kazakhstan.

Background: Growing rates of HIV and high rates of injection drug use in Kazakhstan call for examining access to testing and treatment among people who inject drugs and their intimate partners.

Objectives: We examine how access to health and drug treatment services as well as risk environment factors are associated with ever being tested for HIV and ever receiving any general HIV medical care among 728 male and female intimate partners where at least one partner injects drugs.

Methods: Multivariate random effects logistic regression with random effects for couple were conducted to examine associations between access to health and drug treatment services, risk environment factors, and HIV testing and HIV medical care outcomes.

Preliminary Population Size Estimation of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Kazakhstan: Implications for HIV Testing and Surveillance.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate the population size of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kazakhstan and their HIV testing history.

Methods: We conducted structured interviews with MSM in four geographically disparate cities-N = 400 (n = 100/city)-to implement four population estimation methods and ascertain HIV testing history.

Results: Approximately 3.

Social Support and HIV Risks Among Migrant and Non-Migrant Market Workers in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Unlabelled: Migration processes are listed within the primary factors facilitating the heterosexual spread of HIV. The study examines the relationship between social support, sexual HIV risk behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among 1342 male migrant and non-migrant market workers from Barakholka Market in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Results: (1) higher level of perceived social support [Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease (ENRICHD) Social Support Instrument (ESSI score)] was associated with a lower likelihood of having sex with a female sex worker (FSW) [OR = 0.

Feasibility and preliminary effects of a screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment model to address gender-based violence among women who use drugs in Kyrgyzstan: Project WINGS (Women Initiating New Goals of Safety).

Introduction And Aims: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) are serious public health threats among women who use drugs or engage in binge drinking in Kyrgyzstan. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effects of a two-session IPV and GBV screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment model (WINGS) with HIV counselling and testing for women who use drugs or engage in binge drinking in Kyrgyzstan, using a pre/post-design.

Design And Methods: We screened 109 women from harm reduction non-government organisations in Kyrgyzstan, of whom 78 were eligible, 73 participated in the intervention study, and 66 completed a 3-month post-intervention follow-up.

Risk Factors for Primary Pulmonary TB in Almaty Region, Kazakhstan: A Matched Case-Control Study.

Background: This study examined the association between incident pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and social and behavioral characteristics in Almaty Oblast, Kazakhstan from 2012 to 2013.

Methods: We used a matched case-control design to estimate the role of factors for acquiring pulmonary TB. Totally 324 individuals were recruited from Sep 2012 to Mar 2013.

Drug preparation, injection, and sharing practices in Tajikistan: a qualitative study in Kulob and Khorog.

Background: Sharing injection equipment remains an important rout of transmission of HIV and HCV infections in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Tajikistan is one of the most affected countries with high rates of injection drug use and related epidemics.The aim of this qualitative study was to describe drug use practices and related behaviors in two Tajik cities - Kulob and Khorog.

The association between psychosocial and structural-level stressors and HIV injection drug risk behavior among Malaysian fishermen: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Malaysian fishermen have been identified as a key-affected HIV population with HIV rates 10 times higher than national rates. A number of studies have identified that psychosocial and structural-level stressors increase HIV injection drug risk behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to examine psychosocial and structural-level stressors of injection drug use and HIV injection drug risk behaviors among Malaysian fishermen.

The Silk Road Health Project: How Mobility and Migration Status Influence HIV Risks among Male Migrant Workers in Central Asia.

Objectives: We examined whether mobility, migrant status, and risk environments are associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV risk behaviors (e.g. sex trading, multiple partners, and unprotected sex).

Depression Among People Who Inject Drugs and Their Intimate Partners in Kazakhstan.

This paper examines individual, social, and structural factors associated with depression among 728 people who inject drugs (PWID) and their intimate partners in Kazakhstan, with separate multivariate models by gender. Depression scores were higher on average among participants of both genders who recently experienced sexual intimate partner violence, food insecurity, and who had lower levels of self-rated health. Among females, higher depression scores were associated with experiencing childhood sexual abuse, lower levels of social support, and not having children.

Testing the validity and reliability of the shame questionnaire among sexually abused girls in Zambia.

Purpose: The aim of the current study is to test the validity and reliability of the Shame Questionnaire among traumatized girls in Lusaka, Zambia.

Methods: The Shame Questionnaire was validated through both classical test and item response theory methods. Internal reliability, criterion validity and construct validity were examined among a sample of 325 female children living in Zambia.

Sex workers, condoms, and mobility among men in Uzbekistan: implications for HIV transmission.

Uzbekistan has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. In this study, men who reported mobility were compared to non-mobile men in regard to paying for sex and condom use during paid sex. The sample included 2333 men between the ages of 15 and 59 in Uzbekistan.

Tuberculosis report among injection drug users and their partners in Kazakhstan.

Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major threat to global public health. Kazakhstan has the second highest percentage of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases among incident tuberculosis cases in the world (WHO 2013). A high burden of MDR-TB suggests TB prevention, control, and treatment programs are failing.

A Systematic Review of HIV Risk Behaviors and Trauma Among Forced and Unforced Migrant Populations from Low and Middle-Income Countries: State of the Literature and Future Directions.

The aim of the current systematic review is to examine the relationship between trauma and HIV risk behaviors among both forced and unforced migrant populations from low and middle income countries (LMIC). We conducted a review of studies published from 1995 to 2014. Data were extracted related to (1) the relationship between trauma and HIV risk behaviors, (2) methodological approach, (3) assessment methods, and (4) differences noted between forced and unforced migrants.

Efficacy of a savings-led microfinance intervention to reduce sexual risk for HIV among women engaged in sex work: a randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: We tested whether a structural intervention combining savings-led microfinance and HIV prevention components would achieve enhanced reductions in sexual risk among women engaging in street-based sex work in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, compared with an HIV prevention intervention alone.

Methods: Between November 2011 and August 2012, we randomized 107 eligible women who completed baseline assessments to either a 4-session HIV sexual risk reduction intervention (HIVSRR) alone (n=50) or a 34-session HIVSRR plus a savings-led microfinance intervention (n=57). At 3- and 6-month follow-up assessments, participants reported unprotected acts of vaginal intercourse with paying partners and number of paying partners with whom they engaged in sexual intercourse in the previous 90 days.

Migrant Workers in Kazakhstan: Gender Differences in HIV Knowledge and Sexual Risk Behaviors.

This study compares sexual risk behaviors among male and female migrant market vendors in Almaty, Kazakhstan. From the Barakholka Market, 209 male and 213 female market vendors were randomly recruited. Self-reported data were collected through standardized face-to-face interviews.

Effects of a couple-based intervention to reduce risks for HIV, HCV, and STIs among drug-involved heterosexual couples in Kazakhstan: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Project Renaissance is a randomized controlled trial of an HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV)/sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention intervention conducted in Almaty, Kazakhstan. We hypothesized that couples assigned to the intervention of interest will have lower incidence of HIV, HCV, STIs, rates of unprotected sex, and unsafe injection over the 12-month follow-up period compared with those assigned to an attention control arm.

Design: A total of 300 couples (600 participants) where one or both partners reported injecting drugs in the past 90 days were randomized to 1 of 2 arms: (1) a 5-session HIV/HCV/STI prevention intervention (risk reduction: RR) or (2) a 5-session Wellness Promotion (WP) intervention.

Effective use of naloxone among people who inject drugs in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan using pharmacy- and community-based distribution approaches.

Background: Opioid overdose (OD) is a major cause of mortality among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Central Asia, and distribution of naloxone, an opioid antagonist, can effectively prevent these deaths. However, little is known about the use and wastage of distributed naloxone ampoules. Having reliable data on wastage rates is critical for accurately calculating the health impact of naloxone distribution projects targeting PWID.

HIV risks among injecting and non-injecting female partners of men who inject drugs in Almaty, Kazakhstan: implications for HIV prevention, research, and policy.

Background: Kazakhstan and other countries in Central Asia are experiencing a rapidly growing HIV epidemic, which has historically been driven by injection drug use, but is more recently being fueled by heterosexual transmission.

Methods: This paper examines HIV and HCV infection, as well as sexual and drug-related risks among female partners of men who inject drugs (MWID), comparing females who inject drugs (FWID) to non-injecting female partners on socio-demographic, relationship context, and structural characteristics.

Results: The prevalence rate of HIV was 30.