I’m writing a book on the politics of data for key populations, and it’s led me to think about “data deserts” – areas where no data is produced, so no programs or social services are provided.

It’s a particular problem for key populations (sex workers, men who have sex with men [MSM], people who inject drugs, trans* people and prisoners) in low-income countries. But surprisingly, it’s a problem for countries with higher income too.

Out of the 58 countries that the World Bank classifies as upper-middle income:

• 17 countries had NO official HIV prevalence data for ANY key population group
• 8 countries have HIV prevalence data for only ONE key population, but not the others

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