Introduction to HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection surveillance: module 4: introduction to respondent-driven sampling

Abstract

Surveillance is the systematic, regular collection of information on the occurrence, distribution and trends of a specific infection, disease or other health-related event. HIV surveillance is designed to collect and integrate data reported from a variety of sources, including behavioural surveillance, case reporting, seroprevalence surveillance, and sexually transmitted infections surveillance. The goals of second generation HIV surveillance are to help countries better understand the HIV epidemic trends over time, to better understand the behaviours driving the epidemic, to focus on subpopulations at highest risk for infection and to better use surveillance data for planning the response to the epidemic. HIV surveillance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region needs to be strengthened in order to fill the gaps in our understanding of the dynamics of the epidemic and to be in a better situation to plan appropriately for an effective response. This training course is part of a series of 4 training modules and has been adapted to the regional context from a module originally developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. It describes how to plan and implement a respondent-driven sampling (‎RDS)‎ survey. The course is intended for university and ministry of health staff, public and private public health researchers, and surveillance officers, who will be involved in the planning, organizing, monitoring or implementing of biological and/or behavioural surveillance surveys on HIV/AIDS and associated risk factors in key populations at higher risk of HIV exposure. Countries are free to further adapt these modules or to translate them into local use