Author/Authors :
Karamouzian، Mohammad نويسنده School of Population and Public Health,University of British Columbia,Vancouver,Canada , , Madani، Navid نويسنده Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School,Department
of Global Health and Social Medicine, Department of
Cancer Immunology and Virology,Harvard Medical School,Boston,USA , , Doroudi، Fardad نويسنده Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),Tehran,Iran , , Haghdoost، Ali Akbar نويسنده HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, WHO Collaborating Center for
HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health,Kerman University
of Medical Sciences,Kerman,Iran ,
Abstract :
Although the HIV pandemic is witnessing a decline in the number of new infections in most regions of the world, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has a rapidly growing HIV problem. While generating HIV data has been consistently increasing since 2005, MENA’s contribution to the global HIV literature is just over 1% and the existing evidence often falls behind the academic standards. Several factors could be at play that contribute to the limited quantity and quality of HIV data in MENA. This editorial tries to explore and explain the barriers to collecting highquality HIV data and generating precise estimates in MENA. These barriers include a number of logistic and sociopolitical challenges faced by researchers, public health officials, and policymakers. Looking at successful regional HIV programs, we explore examples were policies have shifted and lessons could be learned in developing appropriate responses to HIV across the region.
