Vulnerability: Sex Workers in Nairobi's Majengo Slum

Abstract

Researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Nairobi, and Manitoba are collaborating on a project to develop an HIV vaccine based on the immunological protection mechanisms found in commercial sex workers from the Majengo slum in Nairobi. This group consists of educationally and economically disadvantaged women who resort to commercial sex work for a living. A clinic was established in the slum to study sexually transmitted diseases, which now includes HIV/AIDS. The clinic serves as a research facility for the collaborating researchers who have been using the women's blood, cervical, vaginal, and saliva samples for the ongoing studies. The clinic runs two HIV-integrated activities: HIV research and HIV care and treatment. For HIV negative participants, samples are collected and used for research and care after they give informed consent.