The scale up of the responses to HIV epidemics needs to be accompanied by an increasing emphasis on measurable indicators and results. These include programme monitoring data and behavioural and biological trend data that enable to evaluate the effectiveness of HIV prevention and control. Evaluation of the successes and gaps in programmatic responses is achieved by establishing and development of a country monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system. This involves the development of national M&E plans based upon a framework, selected indicators and a plan for data collection, reporting, analysis and dissemination, and training and capacity building of M&E staff.

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The aim of this course is to provide participants with practical guidance on how to develop a national system of monitoring and evaluation of HIV programmes. The module is structured around several key themes – basic concepts of an M&E system and its components, measuring process and outputs, evaluation of outcomes and impact, key steps in developing an M&E plan and setting up a national M&E system; and challenges to conducting outcome and impact evaluation.

The course will provide an overview of M&E methods and approaches and include recommended key indicators and data collection methods. A good M&E system provides the strategic information needed to improve programme performance and formulate HIV policies.  During the last few years, one agreed M&E framework has been commonly used, and that is the input-activity-output-outcomes-impact framework.

Monitoring is defined as routine, daily assessment of ongoing activities and progress, while evaluation is the episodic assessment of overall achievements. Monitoring is focused on measuring input indicators (assessing what goes into the programme – money, staff, commodities, etc.) and outputs (measuring what comes out of a programme – number of HIV tests conducted, persons contacted by outreach workers, etc.)

Evaluation is concerned with measuring outcomes and impact of programmes. Outcome indicators measure the short to medium term results expected at the population level and include indicators that measure changes in HIV-related risk behaviours.  Impact indicators are measures of the longer term results expected to occur in the target population. For HIV prevention programmes, this refers to HIV incidence (rate of new infections), though impact indicators are usually expressed as prevalence due to difficulties in obtaining incidence data. Programme outcome and impact indicators are measures of a programme’s intended effect on the population being targeted by the interventions. Outcome and impact indicators are most often obtained from surveillance surveys.

The course will also address other, more advanced method of evaluation, such as data triangulation.

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• Basic concepts of M&E and principles of M&E
• Process and outputs in M&E systems
• Overview of UNGASS national level indicators focusing on the relevance to local context
• Evaluation of process and quality
• Evaluation of outcomes and impact
• The features of a good M&E system
• Epidemiological methods for obtaining impact indicators
• Key steps in developing an M&E plan
• Challenges with M&E

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The course consists of lectures, exercises and presentations. The course is designed to provide participants with practical skills and knowledge in development of M&E plans at the national or regional level and in program evaluation.

There will be two options for group work: generic cialis online pharmacy

generic cialis online pharmacygeneric cialis online pharmacyA group can work to develop or improve an National M&E Plan for their country or a sub-national/project specific M&E plan.  At the end of the workshop the group will have a detailed M&E plan which will describe the functioning of the national (or program-specific) M&E system (including M&E framework, data collection plan, dissemination plan, quality assurance plan, action plan and budget)

generic cialis online pharmacyAn individual or group can work to develop a detailed plan for conducting an evaluation of a specific programme.  This can be a process or outcome evaluation.  The plan will contain a detailed protocol and budget/timeline for conducting the evaluation.

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National AIDS programme managers; government officials responsible for planning and implementation of HIV prevention programmes; WHO and UN staff; other key stakeholders from NGOs, academic and educational organisations, health care workers, other organisation responsible for planning and implementation of HIV prevention and treatment services.

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The course takes place in five days, from 27 February-2 March 2012 in Zagreb, Croatia.

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Ivana Bozicevic, MD, DrPH, WHO Collaborating Centre for HIV Surveillance

Professor Aleksandar Stulhofer, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Zagreb

Jurja-Ivana Cakalo, MD, WHO Collaborating Centre for HIV Surveillance, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Iva Jovovic, National HIV/AIDS Advisor, UNDP Croatia

Danijela Leso, course organiser, WHO Collaborating Centre for HIV Surveillance

To apply for the course please contact Ms Danijela Leso at: or apply on-line at

Download the 

In most countries, HIV surveillance systems do not generate good quality samples of most-at-risk populations. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is being widely used as an effective method to sample most-at-risk populations for HIV bio-behavioural surveys.

RDS is a chain-referral sampling used worldwide to recruit “hidden” populations that are less likely to be recruited from public venues. Since the first RDS study was conducted in 1994 in the United States, this method has been used in more than 150 studies in more than 50 countries to sample injecting drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men, migrant/mobile populations, high risk heterosexual men and women and youth at risk. However, many of the countries have been unable to analyze their data due to their inability to use the specialized RDS analysis tool (RDSAT) and difficulties in understanding the complexities of social network theory and statistical adjustments inherent in using this programme.

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The course provides participants with knowledge and understanding of RDS data analysis, and the theoretical and statistical concepts upon which it is based. The course addresses all steps in RDS data management and analysis, including the best practices for bivariate and multivariate analysis. The training course will address new issues in RDS and RDSAT, and parameters that need to be taken into account when planning 2nd and any subsequent rounds of RDS. Importantly, the course addresses interpretation of RDS data, particularly the external validity.
Each participant will work on a computer with the following software:

• RDSAT 6.0.1
• Excel
• NETDRAW (freeware for recruitment chains)
• STATA or SPSS (for logistic regression)

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• Latest information about implementing RDS
• RDS software that is currently available, its capacity and limitations
• Theoretical parameters of RDS and the meaning of technical concepts such as homophily, social network sizes, differential recruitment and equilibrium
• Preparation of data files that can be used in RDS software and analysis of data using RDSAT
• Graphical presentation of recruitment chains using NetDraw and Gephi
• Analysis of trend data from RDS surveys
• Export of individualized weights to conduct regression analyses
• Regression analyses using either SPSS or STATA
• Data interpretation and analysis

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The course consists of lectures and individual work on computers so that participants can get hands-on experience in RDS data management and analysis. Participants are encouraged to bring their own RDS data sets to work on, particularly if they need to write up the results from RDS surveys for surveillance reports or scientific manuscripts. Those without actual data will be provided with datasets. Participants should be familiar in basic statistics and Excel software. Participants are expected to bring their own laptop computers at the course. They will be given statistical programmes at the course to work with.

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This training invites principal investigators, statisticians, data managers and other researchers who have experience using RDS.

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generic cialis online pharmacy, PhD, Independent Consultant; Senior analyst for University of California, San Francisco, Global Health Sciences; Assistant/adjunct professor, Tulane University, School of International Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Website: www.lisagjohnston.com.

generic cialis online pharmacy, MD, DrPH, WHO Collaborating Centre for HIV Surveillance, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Aleksandar Stulhofer, PhD, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Zagreb, Croatia

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Danijela Leso, WHO Collaborating Centre for Capacity Building in HIV Surveillance

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The course takes place in five days, from 13-17 February 2012 in Zagreb, Croatia.

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Web site of Respondent-Driven Sampling, includes downloads of RDSAT and the references
Cornell University
www.respondentdrivensampling.org

Heckathorn D. Respondent-Driven Sampling: A new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems. 1997;44:174–199.

Heckathorn D, Semaan S, Broadhead RS, et al. Extensions of respondent-
driven sampling: a new approach to the study of injection drug users aged 18-25. AIDS
and Behavior 2002;6:55-67.

Townsend L, Johnston LG, Flisher AJ, Mathews C, Zembe Y. Effectiveness of respondent-driven sampling to recruit high risk heterosexual men who have multiple female sexual partners: differences in HIV prevalence and sexual risk behaviours measured at two time points. AIDS Behav. 2010;14(6):1330-9.

Bozicevic I, Rode OD, Lepej SZ, Johnston LG, Stulhofer A, Dominkovic Z, Bacak V, Lukas D, Begovac J.Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men in Zagreb, Croatia. AIDS Behav 2009;13:303-9.

Johnston LG, Malekinejad M, Kendall C, Iuppa IM, Rutherford GW.I mplementation challenges to using respondent-driven sampling methodology for HIV biological and behavioral surveillance: field experiences in international settings. AIDS Behav 2008;12(4 Suppl):S131-41 2008.

Malekinejad M, Johnston LG, Kendall C, Kerr LR, Rifkin MR, Rutherford GW.
Using respondent-driven sampling methodology for HIV biological and behavioral surveillance in international settings: a systematic review. AIDS Behav 2008;12(4 Suppl):S105-30.

Gile KJ, Handcock MS. Respondent-Driven Sampling: An Assessment of Current Methodology. Sociological Methods, 2010. 40, 1: 285-327.

Goel S, Salganik MJ: Respondent-driven sampling as Markov chain Monte Carlo, Statistics in Medicine, 2009, 28(17), 2202 – 2229.

Goel S, Salganik MJ. 2010. “Assessing respondent-driven sampling.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107:6743-6747.

Heckathorn DD. Extensions of respondent-driven sampling: analyzing continuous variables and controlling for differential recruitment. Sociol Methodol. 2007;37:151-207.

McPherson M, Smith-Lovin L, Cook JM. 2001. “Birds of a feather: homophily in social networks”. Annual Review of Sociology. 27: 415-444.

Salganik MJ, Heckathorn D. 2003. “Sampling and estimation in hidden populations using respondent driven sampling.” Presented at the Sunbelt Social Networks Conference, Cancun, Mexico.

Salganik MJ: Variance estimation, design effects and sample size calculations for respondent driven sampling. Journal of Urban Health, 2006, 83(Suppl 7), 98–112.

Wejnert C: An Empirical Test of Respondent-Driven Sampling: Point Estimates, Variance, Degree Measures, and Out-of-Equilibrium Data. Sociological Methodology, 2009, 39, 73-116

Volz E, Heckathorn DD: Probability-Based Estimation Theory for Respondent-Driven Sampling. Journal of Official Statistics, 2008, 24 (Suppl 1), 79-97.

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The aim of this workshop is to provide participants with theoretical knowledge and practical skills in implementation of HIV surveillance methods in high-risk groups, as well as methods used to carry out studies that aim to evaluate HIV prevention interventions in high-risk groups.

The first part of the course gives an overview of the components of a comprehensive HIV surveillance in high-risk groups, such as pre-surveillance assessment, mapping, and surveys that are implemented as part of the community-based surveillance. Study designs that will be described include cluster-based stratified sampling, time-location sampling and respondent-driven sampling. Advanced methods in HIV surveillance will be also outlined, such as HIV incidence-based surveillance and data triangulation as a programme evaluation tool.

In the second part of the course participants are provided with practical guidance on how to use different study designs to evaluate HIV interventions that are implemented in their countries among key populations at higher risk.

The most important part of the course is the protocol development exercise. Participants can choose to develop two types of protocols: (I) a protocol for an HIV surveillance survey in high-risk groups; or (II) a protocol for a study that evaluate HIV intervention(s) in high-risk groups using simple (cross-sectional surveys, programmatic data) or more complex designs (cohort studies, randomised control trials, data triangulation). Participants are encouraged to work on protocols that might be later on used in their own countries.

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• Components of HIV surveillance in high-risk groups
• Non-probabilistic and probabilistic sample designs in community-based surveys in high-risk groups
• Overview of HIV prevention interventions in high-risk groups
• Methods for evaluation of preventions using simple and more complex designs

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The course consists of lectures, presentations of case studies of surveillance surveys and evaluation studies, exercises and group work.

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Epidemiologists, public health professionals, social scientists

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• generic cialis online pharmacy, MD, DrPH, WHO Collaborating Centre for Capacity Development in HIV Surveillance, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia
• generic cialis online pharmacy, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Zagreb
• generic cialis online pharmacy, MD, WHO Collaborating Centre for Capacity Development in HIV Surveillance, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia

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The course takes place in five days, from 14-18 November 2011 in Zagreb, Croatia. The course will take place at generic cialis online pharmacy, Rockefellerova 4, Zagreb.

You can apply via the .

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The increases in funding for HIV prevention and surveillance provided by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the (US) President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), increased also the imperative and the opportunities for evaluation of the scaled-up HIV interventions among key populations at higher risk of HIV.(1) HIV transmission can be decreased if prevention programmes include a mix of behavioural, biomedical and structural interventions appropriate for the epidemic context. (2) (3) Evaluation of HIV programmes enables to document how improvements in availability, access, utilization, and coverage with HIV interventions result in decreased rates of HIV infection.(4)

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The aim of this course is to provide participants with practical guidance on how to set up an evaluation plan for HIV interventions implemented among key populations at higher risk (sex workers, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men) and other vulnerable groups.

The course starts with the outline of the current evidence of effectiveness of biological, behavioural and structural HIV prevention strategies, obtained mainly from systematic reviews and meta-analysis. The lectures on the second day will outline the key sources of evidence on effectiveness of interventions, such as Cochrane Collaboration and latest WHO and CDC recommendations and guidelines. (5) (6) (7) Participants will be given an opportunity to share their own country-specific experiences of evaluation of HIV programmes among populations at higher risk of HIV on the first and the second day.

The next part of the course will present the simple approaches to designing HIV evaluation protocols, which rely on programmatic and surveillance data, and more complex approaches which use prospectively collected data, step-wedged and randomized trial designs. The issues to be addressed include the selection of the study population, sampling, statistical inference and measuring outcomes and impact.  The key part of the course is a group work which consists of the development of an evaluation protocol that participants will present at the end of the course. Participants can choose the topic of the evaluation protocol which they can later on use in their countries. An evaluation protocol describes every step of the evaluation, with special focus on the design, methodology, and analytical procedures of the evaluation.

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• Current evidence of efficacy and effectiveness of biological, behavioural and structural HIV prevention interventions
• Choosing a prevention intervention –Cochrane Reviews and CDC and WHO guidelines and recommendations
• Implementing interventions: challenges in scaling up
• Choosing and monitoring indicators
• Designing a programme evaluation

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The course consists of lectures, presentation of case studies, exercises and group work. The course is designed to provide participants with practical skills and knowledge on how to choose, monitor and evaluate HIV interventions in their countries.

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Epidemiologists, public health professionals, social scientists

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generic cialis online pharmacy, MD, Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA

generic cialis online pharmacy, MD, DrPH, WHO Collaborating Centre for Capacity Development in HIV Surveillance, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia

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The course takes place in five days, from 20-24 June 2011 in Cavtat (close to Dubrovnik), Croatia. The course will take place at the Hotel Croatia in Cavtat ( )

Please apply via the web site or if you have any questions please contact us.

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(1) Hallett TB, White PJ, Garnett GP. Appropriate evaluation of HIV prevention interventions: from experiment to full-scale implementation. generic cialis online pharmacy2007;83:i55-i60generic cialis online pharmacy