Concentrated Epidemics: The Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS Among Key Populations
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2027 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
HIV/AIDS remains a major global public health challenge, with its burden disproportionately concentrated among specific population groups. These key populations—including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender and gender-diverse individuals, incarcerated populations, and migrants—experience markedly higher risks of HIV infection, morbidity, and mortality. Environmental, social, and structural determinants such as stigma, discrimination, criminalization, poverty, and barriers to health services play a central role in shaping vulnerability and health outcomes.
This Special Issue, “Concentrated Epidemics: The Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS Among Key Populations”, aims to advance population-based and environmental public health perspectives on HIV/AIDS by examining the epidemiological patterns, contextual determinants, and responses of health systems that affect key populations. We welcome original research, systematic reviews, and policy- or methodologically oriented studies addressing HIV incidence and prevalence, social and structural risk factors, access to prevention and care, implementation of interventions such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and harm reduction, treatment outcomes, and co-infections.
Special attention will be given to studies that integrate epidemiological analysis with social, environmental, and policy contexts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and underserved settings. By consolidating multidisciplinary evidence, this Special Issue seeks to inform public health policies, strengthen equity-oriented interventions, and contribute to more effective and sustainable HIV responses that are tailored to populations disproportionately affected by concentrated epidemics.
Dr. Fabiana Armando Schuelter-Trevisol
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- HIV infections
- acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
- vulnerable populations
- health equity
- social determinants of health
- health services accessibility
- disease transmission, infectious
- pre-exposure prophylaxis
- public health policy
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