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Case Study

Photo: FHI/Doaa Oraby

The staff of Libya’s National AIDS Program as well as other stakeholders learned how to implement a national HIV surveillance survey into their programming.

“I benefited a lot from this workshop and am looking forward to future work with you in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said a participant at a workshop in Libya building the capacity of the country’s HIV/AIDS program.

Challenge

Despite a lack of quality HIV surveillance data in the Middle East and North Africa region, the epidemic there is generally assumed to be in a nascent stage of development. Existing data suggests that HIV is expanding in traditional high-risk groups. Of particular concern is the risk of HIV infections among injecting drug users (IDUs), especially in Libya, which has recorded a majority of infections among IDUs. Stopping the spread of HIV means trying to understand and change behaviors that put people at risk of HIV before they get infected.

Initiative

In collaboration with the Libyan National AIDS Program, an Egyptian project held a USAID-supported workshop in Tripoli to build the capacity of Libya’s national program and stakeholders to conduct a biological and behavioral surveillance survey. The workshop concentrated on the continued evolution of HIV surveillance and the steps for implementing a survey with a special focus on ethical issues.

Results

Libya’s national AIDS program will integrate the survey into their HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs, thus moving forward in combating HIV. Follow up with the program revealed that the trained participants are replicating the training in the different governorates to prepare a cadre of staff for conducting the survey. The success of the in-country technical assistance revealed that nations in the region are open and willing to have serious movement in the field of HIV/AIDS.

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