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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Marissa Billowitz, MA, Heilbrunn Dept. of Population and Family Health/ Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 60 Haven Avenue, B-3, New York, NY 10032, 212-304-5258, mb2661@columbia.edu and Marilyn Aguirre-Molina, The Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia University, 60 Haven Avenue #B2, New york, NY 10032.

Issues: In Latin America and the Caribbean, insufficient attention has been given to the interaction between HIV/AIDS, poverty and inequality, despite the impact of AIDS on development in other regions being widely developed. Few policy and program recommendations related to this interaction exist, particularly for the Latin American and Caribbean context.

Description: Columbia University partnered with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to examine the linkages between HIV/AIDS, poverty, and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean and to produce a user-friendly policy and program tool kit for decision-makers and program managers.

The project produced an analytical framework examining the circular relationship between structural inequalities (based on economics, gender, race/ethnicity, access to resources/services, and the legal/policy environment) and HIV/AIDS. To demonstrate this relationship in tangible terms, qualitative research in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua was conducted to gather illustrative stories from those affected by HIV/AIDS and glean insight from knowledgeable stakeholders.

Lessons Learned: The kit's contents include: a recommendations matrix synthesizing the results of the above research with existing recommendations; a report on HIV/AIDS, poverty, and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua; life histories of those affected by HIV/AIDS; talking points stressing the importance of examining HIV/AIDS in a development context; self-assessment tools for integrating these concepts into programs and policy; and an extensive bibliography.

Recommendations: In collaboration with UNFPA, Columbia University will disseminate this tool kit and its contents through a regional workshop in Latin America.

Learning Objectives: