Study Planned To Examine Spread of HIV Among Migrant Workers in California, Mexico

Government researchers from Mexico and California on Wednesday announced plans for a joint study to explore the spread of HIV among migrant workers and their families in California and Mexico, the AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The three-year study will focus on seasonal farm workers, day laborers and urban workers in Fresno and San Diego counties, as well as similar groups and their relatives in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Michoacan. "Addressing the health needs of Mexican migrants is very important both to Mexico and California, and previously there hadn't been a collaborative effort to address the matter jointly," Dr. George Lemp, director of the University of California's AIDS Research Program, said. According to Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, research director for Mexico's National Center for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, officials must recognize the possibility that migrant workers could contract HIV while working in the United States. Researchers hope to make policy and program recommendations to prevent such a situation on the basis of the study, which will include field interviews, blood and urine sample collection and statistical model development. While smaller studies have been conducted among migrant workers in the United States, the joint study will be the "most comprehensive effort" to date, according to Lemp. The study will also track cases of tuberculosis and other sexually transmitted diseases (Leff, AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2/6).