Integrated HIV Bio-Behavior Survey

ICAP is supporting sustainable surveillance systems among key populations (KP) and support the Government of Zambia to improve HIV-related services for KP. The purpose of this project is to implement sustainable surveillance systems to understand the HIV epidemic among KP in Zambia and support the Government of Zambia to develop and roll out strategic planning, with the goal of increasing access and utilization of evidence-based, tailored, and comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for KP (funded by PEPFAR through CDC).

The Biological Behavioral Survey (BBS) project began in September 2017 and is funded by the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The purpose of this project is to establish sustainable surveillance systems to understand the HIV epidemic among key populations(KP) in Zambia and support the Government of Zambia through the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Council to develop and roll out strategic planning, with the goal of increasing access and utilization of evidence-based, tailored, and comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for KP.

The target population are: Female Sex Workers (FSW), People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) for non-medical purposes, Men who have sex with men (MSM), their sexual partners and other priority populations. The target locations/towns are those regarded as the first order districts due to a high burden of KP and these are: Lusaka, Livingstone, Chipata, Mongu, Kapiri Mposhi, Mansa, Ndola, Kitwe and Solwezi.

This project is premised on the fact that HIV prevalence in Zambia is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, and also evidence indicates that KP contribute substantially to the number of new HIV infections and, consequently, that their effective engagement in high-quality, evidence-based HIV services is needed to achieve epidemic control.

The project’s primary objectives are to:

• Create and foster strong partnerships with the Zambian government, MOH, NAC, CBO, and other stakeholders to collaborate on national strategic planning to meet the HIV-related needs of KP
• Conduct Integrated Biological Behaviour Surveillance Surveys (IBBSS) among KP, build in-country capacity to develop and implement IBBSS for KP, and establish a sustainable IBBSS for KP in priority areas, including mapping and Population Size Estimation (PSE) of KP
• Enhance in-country capacity to provide KP with evidence-based, accessible, tailored, and comprehensive HIV-related services