The study findings corroborate available evidence that port areas are “hot spots” for HIV transmission. The study also identifies significant structural and workplace issues of concern that further exacerbate the vulnerability of port-users to HIV. It is comforti ng to verify that the study does not show great differences in results between migrant and non-migrant workers, which points to port-users having equal access to informati on and services related to HIV and AIDS.

This study identifies a compelling but under-researched area of the HIV epidemic in Mozambique. The economic, social and cultural implications of the epidemic need to be thoroughly analyzed so that appropriate measures can be devised to prevent new infections, scale up treatment, and provide care and support to those most in need.

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While there is a number of studies on prevalence of risk behaviors with respect to communicable diseases among labor migrants in Russia, practically no systematic research linking together their socio-economic background, life circumstances, awareness levels and information sources on communicable diseases has been conducted. At the same time in designing disease prevention campaigns, program planners need to take these factors into account.