Mobile Populations and HIV/AIDS in Central America, Mexico and the United States

National AIDS Programs, NGOs and international cooperation agencies in Mexico and Central America participated in this project which is a model for international technical cooperation for health equity. The objective is to develop, implement and evaluate appropriate strategies for controlling HIV in the region. The project has three phases: situational analysis, implementation of actions, and impact and process evaluation; in 11 transit stations in 8 countries in the region. During January and February 2001, the first phase of the project was concluded with 4720 household surveys of local population, and in depth interviews with 115 sex workers, 284 migrants and other mobile population, 237 key and common informants and 183 representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The results show contexts for vulnerability where human rights violations violence and poverty contribute to the transmission of HIV. Mobile populations, migrants and sex workers are considered vectors for transmitting HIV. High population mobility in the region is a two-sided coin, it can favor the dissemination of HIV but it can also potentially multiply actions that prevent HIV transmission in the region.