Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106911

Kamma J. Blair, BEd, BHAdmin, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Edward Ford Building, A27, University of Sydney, NSW, Sydney, 2006, Australia, 61 2 9516 1436, kammab@telusplanet.net

As we move into the third decade of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, an assessment of the opportunities and challenges present in an emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic will be discussed using the Pacific Island nation of the Marshall Islands as a frame of reference. This presentation will endeavor to create a snapshot of the current HIV/AIDS situation in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). An assessment of the Marshallese response to HIV infection in the freely associated state of the Republic of the Marshall Islands will be discussed. Complex relationships between geographic isolation, poverty, equity, gender and culture combine to create a precarious situation for the spread of HIV infection in the RMI. Attempts will be made to discuss the social and economic factors influencing the spread of HIV in the RMI including sexual behaviors, cultural beliefs, education, unemployment, alcohol and drug abuse, poverty and migration patterns, all which ultimately influence family structures and residency patterns. The unique relationship between the RMI and the United States government and American culture will also be discussed in relation to HIV/AIDS.

Learning Objectives:

• To discern the impact of an emerging HIV epidemic in small, isolated and remote populations in Micronesian communities.
• To articulate the risk behaviors and risk settings for HIV infection within the US feely associated states, with specific reference to the Marshall Islands.
• To discuss the limitations and opportunities for HIV surveillance systems in CDC sponsored Pacific Island communities.
• To comprehend the fragmentation of determinants of health in highly mobile and migrant Pacific Islander communities, with discussions on seafaring populations, commercial sex workers and US freely associated state citizens.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, International Public Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commertial supporters WITH THE EXCEPTION OF Pacific Regional HIV/AIDS Project through AusAID supported housing costs and transportation costs to the Marshall Islands from the Fiji Islands..