ESTABLISHING AN HIV AIDS INTERVENTION PROGRAM FOR STREET DRUG-USERS IN A DEVELOPING-NATION/

The general purposes of the PROVIVA project are to establish a communi ty HIV/AIDS surveillance and monitoring system in Rio de Janeiro and t o develop, implement, and evaluate a community-based HIV/AIDS preventi on and intervention program for cocaine injectors and snorters, and ma le transvestite sex workers, in Rio's shantytowns, prostitution distri cts, and other neighborhoods where rates of street drug use are high. A secondary purpose is to develop an effective field-based HIV prevent ion program that can be used in other communities throughout Latin Ame rica and perhaps other developing nations. Conducting research in an i nternational setting in general, and establishing a community-based se roprevalence and prevention project in a developing nation in particul ar, presented a myriad of procedural and logistical obstacles and comp lications. Within this context, this paper reviews the requirements of the National institute on Drug Abuse cooperative agreement projects, examines the issues and problems associated with implementing this kin d of research in a developing nation, and suggests appropriate solutio ns for dealing with these emergent circumstances and difficulties.