Russian Federation (2006): HIV/AIDS TRaC Study among Health Services and Health Providers Targeting High-Risk Groups in St. Petersburg First Round

The objective of this study was to provide baseline data for the evaluation of the services-based component of the PreventAIDS program in St Petersburg, Russia. The PreventAIDS program has two complementary overall components: promoting healthy behaviors among selected target groups (populations at high risk for HIV, such as injecting drug users and sex workers) through behavior-change interventions, and the improvement of the delivery of health services to these groups. The second component entails working with the health institutions as well as with health professionals; the present study provides baseline data for this component of the program. Specifically, the program and the research is focusing on the protection of confidentiality and privacy, the practice of effective referrals, and attitudes towards high-risk groups. The study has four components: interviews with health officials, a facility audit, a provider interview, and a client-exit interview; together, these are designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the health services. Interviews with health officials were qualitative, conducted with a purposefully selected individuals within the health system of St Petersburg. The other three components are quantitative in nature. The facility audit was performed in purposefully-selected facilities in the St Petersburg city area; client-exit and provider interviews employed probability-based sampling of these groups in the same facilities in w hich the audit was performed.