NGO support toolkit (English)  >  Strategic planning  >  Situation assessment 

HIV situation analysis

An HIV/AIDS situation analysis is used to identify where HIV/AIDS prevalence rates are highest, which populations are most affected and how they are affected, what factors are driving the spread of the epidemic and the main opportunities to respond effectively at individual, community and population levels.

During a situation analysis four key types of data will be gathered:

• Demographic and epidemiological data designed to identify the populations and communities most immediately vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and the causes and factors driving vulnerability. This includes HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and how incidence and prevalence are linked to such factors as injecting drug use, sex work, sex between men, age and gender.
• Behavioural data used to identify modes of transmission in vulnerable populations. This includes injection practices, sexual networking, use of condoms and other contraceptives, age of sexual debut, links between sexual practice and alcohol and other recreational drugs, etc.
• Socio-economic and cultural data , including the nature of community support structures, literacy rates, health data, migration patterns, mobility, socio-linguistic divisions, class sub-divisions, ethnicity, gender roles and expectations about sex and relationships.
• The wider social environment (including actors, sites and priorities) which, while not HIV/AIDS specific, will have an impact on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and mitigation. Examples might include the state of civil society, the overall condition of the health care system and cultural expectations in relation to community consultation and participation.

Issues to consider

• The needs of vulnerable populations may be easily neglected by an assessment team because of the way they are socially marginalised or stigmatised. It is important to test and challenge any pre-existing perceptions and ensure people conducting the assessment will be comfortable and effective working with potentially stigmatised populations.
• Some programmes may need to conduct more detailed HIV situation analyses within specific priority sites, measuring size, behaviour and networks of specific key populations.
• Data analysis will be as important as data gathering. For example, any data collection will identify a very large range of needs in relation to general health, poverty, stigma, discrimination, etc. It is vital to identify how these needs affect problems and opportunities to address HIV/AIDS epidemics.

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