Mobile Clinic Approach for HIV/STI Prevention among Commercial Sex Workers in Phuket

Abstract

The objective of HIV Prevention Mobile Clinic was to encourage CSW for access to STI care on screening, treatment as well as Voluntary Conseling and Testing. The target population was a high risk groups with limited access to STI Clinic. STI Clinic mobile clinics were set up at 6 Health Centers located near high risk area. The mobile clinic was implemented for 1 year (October 2006 - September 2007). The data was collected by HIV screening form and OPD card in Access Program and analyzed by SPSS program. There were 226 CSW attend the mobile clinics. The HIV prevalence rate was 5.51% which was higher than annual HIV prevalence report (3.36%). STI incidence rate was 14.16% which was also higher than STI clinic rate (4.83). Finally, the knowledge for HIV/AIDS was evaluated, it was found that high, average and low level of knowledge were 61.0%, 35.7% and 3.2% respectively. Although participating sex workers might not be a representative sample, they had substantially higher HIV prevalence than other sex workers. Mobile Clinic for STI Screening and VCT shouldl be considered by the provincial policy maker to increase access to STI services.