In response to the high burden of disease among sex workers and their position as a population heavily affected by the HIV epidemic, there has been a growing body of literature investigating the prevalence and risk factors associated with HIV risk among sex workers. To contextualize and summarize the existing research evidence base, a systematic review was conducted to synthesize the epidemiological literature on sex workers in Uganda. All studies that included sex workers as the primary research participants were included in the review.
The search was then geographically restricted to the country of Uganda. Items were identified from 18 databases grey and peer-review on March 10—11, A total of articles were retrieved from the database search. After removal of duplicates, a total of articles were screened for eligibility and 64 full-text articles were assessed. The final review included 24 studies with quantitative methodology conducted among sex workers in Uganda.
The HIV prevalence among female sex workers ranged from Both multi-drug resistance to antiretroviral therapy 2. Between The majority of the existing evidence is based in Kampala, highlighting a need for information on sex work in other regions of Uganda. The online version of this article doi The high prevalence of HIV among sex workers has been consistently documented from the beginning of the HIV epidemic [ 1 ].
Studies from the early s began to document the high prevalence of HIV among sex workers within Uganda [ 2 — 4 ]. The Ugandan Government was quick to acknowledge the scale and severity of the HIV epidemic within the general population and began large scale campaigns to encourage condom use and reduce the number of sexual partners [ 5 ].
As a result, there is a large body of clinical research on HIV in Uganda, including many clinical trials, particularly among sero-discordant couples [ 6 ] and on the prevention of mother to child transmission [ 7 ], but much less research among key affected populations such as sex workers [ 8 ]. Country-wide prevalence estimates, based on available data, suggest that approximately one-third or Sex workers often have limited economic options and provide for many dependent children and family members, with limited access to education [ 11 , 15 — 17 ].
