Combat AIDS: HIV and the World's Armed Forces

This book was published in 2002 for the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, this 65-page study discusses the impact of HIV/AIDS on military forces around the world. Designed for policy and decision makers, NGOs working in the areas of HIV/AIDS, and the military, the report includes material from focus group discussions with soldiers in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South-east Asia.

Accustomed to taking risks in their profession, military personnel may be more inclined to take part in high-risk sexual behaviour. For this reason, as is the case with other sexually transmitted infections, HIV rates are often higher in the armed forces than in the general population.

This report gives a basic overview of the problem and highlights several obstacles to tackling this problem among soldiers, including inadequate funding, a fear of breaches of confidentiality, and restricted access to information. It then discusses what strategies are being developed to address the problem at the international level, pulling together current thinking on the best prevention and care programmes.

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