HIV Risk Behaviors Among Key Populations
Summary
HIV risk behaviours are concentrated among distinct demographic groups whose social, economic and structural circumstances amplify vulnerability to infection. These key populations include female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender individuals, people who inject drugs and incarcerated persons. Common behavioural drivers encompass inconsistent condom use, multiple concurrent partnerships, transactional sex and sharing of injecting equipment. Stigma, discrimination and legal barriers frequently impede access to prevention, testing and treatment services, reinforcing transmission cycles. Intersectional factors such as poverty, migration and co-occurring sexually transmitted infections further heighten risk, calling for integrated approaches. Effective HIV programmes combine behavioural interventions—peer education, condom negotiation training and harm-reduction outreach—with biomedical tools such as antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis. Monitoring behavioural trends through surveys and mathematical modelling informs targeted resource allocation. Globally, reducing HIV incidence among key populations is central to achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets and curbing the epidemic. Translating evidence into policy requires community engagement, policy reform and tailored service delivery that address the complex interplay of individual behaviours and structural determinants.
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HIV Risk Behaviors Among Key Populations publication trend
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Technical terms
Key populations: Groups disproportionately affected by HIV due to social, legal or behavioural factors, including sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender individuals, people who inject drugs and incarcerated persons.
Respondent-driven sampling: A chain-referral survey method used to recruit participants from hard-to-reach populations, weighting for network size to produce population estimates.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): The use of antiretroviral medication by HIV-negative individuals to prevent infection before potential exposure.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART): Combination drug regimens that suppress HIV replication, reduce viral load and prevent progression to AIDS.
Syndemic: The co-occurrence of two or more epidemics (for example, HIV and substance use) interacting synergistically to exacerbate health outcomes.
References
- Prevalence of syphilis and associated factors among female sex workers in Ethiopia: findings from a multilevel analysis of a national bio-behavioral survey. BMC Public Health (2023).
- Contributing factors for self-reported HIV in male Peruvian inmates: results of the 2016 prison census. Frontiers in Public Health (2023).
- The impact and cost-effectiveness of combined HIV prevention scenarios among transgender women sex-workers in Lima, Peru: a mathematical modelling study. The Lancet Public Health (2019).
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