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

Abstract #108714

Pardis Mahdavi, MIA, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, SPH/722 West 168 Street, Room 914, New York, NY 10032, 212-305-0096, pm504@columbia.edu

The presentation looks at preliminary research which focuses on high risk behavior, particularly high risk sexual activity and opiate use, among young people in Iran. To the outside observer, young people (18-25) live modest, celibate lives obeying sharia (Islamic) law . A closer look at activities behind closed doors leads to an underground world of varied sexual encounters and drug use where there is the potential spread of disease. Further, these young people face the risk of being discovered and the possibility of receiving a harsh punishment by Islamist authorities. While preliminary statistics show a rising HIV and drug problem, little is known about the settings and motivations behind urban Iranian youth initiation into high risk practices. Qualitative, ethnographic methods such as participant observation, in-depth interviews and group discussions were used to describe Iranian young people's initiation into high risk practices, and the circumstances, networks, social environments and motivations surrounding these initiation events. Level of knowledge of high risk behavior and reproductive health (e.g. knowledge of transmission of HIV or STIs, contraception, and sterile injection paraphernalia) in the context of the current political climate were also assessed. The goal of this research is to develop materials and information to be used as part of a larger sex education, HIV/AIDS and risk reduction campaign in Iran.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to
(
• identify risks posed to urban Iranian youth in the context of the current political climate, (
• discuss ways in which local experiences of high risk behavior both shape and are shaped by global frameworks.

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 commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation

Unique Challenges for HIV/AIDS and Youth

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA