Migration and HIV:Factors determining HIV testing amongst migrants living in Johannesburg,South Africa

The HIV epidemic is a serious public health concern globally. South Africa is home to the largest population living with HIV in the world (UNAIDS, 2010). Migration is an important factor in the study of the spread of HIV as the process of migration increases migrants’ susceptibility to HIV (IOM: 2010). There are approximately 1.6 million cross-border migrants in South Africa; this is equivalent to 3.4% of the total population (CoRMSA, 2009). Knowledge of one’s status is a crucial first step in management of the disease; however HIV testing remains a challenging aspect of public health programmes due to various social determinants of health, especially amongst key at risk populations such as migrants (WHO, 2010). Therefore, in order to expand our understanding of Migration and HIV testing; this quantitative study aims to investigate the determinants of HIV testing amongst migrants living in Johannesburg. Secondary data analysis will be conducted using the RENEWAL survey of 2008 comprising of 441 people stratified into international (n=293) and internal (n=150) migrants. Analysis will be done at three levels: Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate; Logistic Regression being the main model.
Key Words: Migration; South Africa; HIV testing; Determinants.