Eastern Europe and Community of Independent States

This article reviews the literature on migration, HIV/AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases in Eastern Europe and the Community of Independent States (CIS): Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the former Yugoslavian countries; and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. There is little in-depth research on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. After the collapse of the USSR, the opening up of borders presented greater options for the spread of HIV. During 1991-1996, HIV-infected persons increased from 0.3/100,000 to 7.8/100,000. Syphilis and gonorrhea also spread in the 1990s. The increased prevalence is attributed to changes in sexual behavior due to increased travel and migration, disruption among families, and changes in sexual mores; and changes in the structure, availability, and effectiveness of health services. Many migrants in the CIS are young people. Mobile populations in the CIS include labor migrants, refugees, persons displaced by armed conflicts, repatriates, forced migrants, resettlement of formerly deported persons, and ecological migrants. It is general knowledge that migrants are poorly informed about HIV/AIDS. Condoms are not readily available in the CIS. Eastern Europe has high rates of HIV among migrant sex workers.