| Surveillance data on HIV transmission and risks show that refugees and immigrants newly arriving or resettling in a new country are much more susceptible to and at greater risk for HIV infection than the local general populations in the new country of arrival or resettlement (UNAIDS, Children and Young People in a World of AIDS, 2001). The UNAIDS surveillance data attribute this phenomenon to several factors and challenges ranging from financial and environmental conditions to cultural and language barriers, stigma, discrimination, exploitation, and difficulty accessing HIV education or health services (Tompkins et al., "HIV Education Needs Among Sudanese Immigrants & Refugees in Midwestern United States," 2006). In fact, it has become evident in the United States in recent years that as the demographics of the local populations continue to change with the infusion of immigrants and refugees from countries or regions of the world with high epidemic rates of HIV infections such as Sub-Saharan Africa, public health services in the United States will continue to be challenged to provide not only culturally sensitive HIV prevention programs to these diverse population groups, but also to strategize on how best to target and reach the sub-groups of recent immigrants and refugees (Ackerman, "Health problem of refugees," 1999). Consequently, many public health officials in the United States, especially within the African immigrant communities, have begun to think that a relationship exists between current gaps in literature on the knowledge and risk behavior of African immigrants and increases in the vulnerability of African immigrants to the HIV infection. Hence, this research will assess the baseline level of HIV knowledge and risk behavior of African immigrants in Guilford County in order to provide a crucial foundation for the development of culturally sensitive educational programs and awareness of HIV infection among this group of the population. |
