Risk of Transmission in Emergency Contexts

Although arriving at definitive conclusions is based on the scant HIV prevalence data available in emergency settings, we do know that many of the conditions that facilitate the spread of HIV are common in these settings.

Such conditions include but are not limited to:
• Rape and sexual violence, including rape used as a weapon of war by fighting forces against civilians. This is most often exacerbated by impunity for crimes of sexual violence and exploitation
• Severe impoverishment that often leads women and girls with few alternatives but to exchange sex for survival
• Mass displacement which leads to break up of families and relocation into crowded refugee and internally displaced camps where security is rarely guaranteed
• Broken down school, health and communication systems usually used to programme against HIV transmission.
• Limited access to condoms and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

(Referance:
GUIDELINES for HIV/AIDS interventions in emergency settings
Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Force on HIV/AIDS in Emergency Settings
www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc)