ABSTRACT
Evaluation is an essential component of health programmes in the 1990s, including those concerning HIV and AIDS. The process of evaluation, however, can be fraught with differences of opinion, with struggles over finance, power and influence, so that it comes to be seen as a series of problems, rather than a method of ensuring efficient and appropriate services. Many of the chapters in this book refer to the particular problems arising in trying to meet prevention and care needs around HIV and AIDS for migrants and minority ethnic communities.1,2 All of these difficulties and problems can be exacerbated if HIV/ AIDS interventions are not carefully planned and evaluated at each stage. Good evaluation becomes an essential component if the intervention is to be useful, or even to prevent it from being harmful.
