Recent HIV prevalence trends among pregnant women and all women in sub-Saharan Africa: implications for HIV estimates
نویسندگان
چکیده
OBJECTIVES National population-wide HIV prevalence and incidence trends in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are indirectly estimated using HIV prevalence measured among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANC), among other data. We evaluated whether recent HIV prevalence trends among pregnant women are representative of general population trends. DESIGN Serial population-based household surveys in 13 SSA countries. METHODS We calculated HIV prevalence trends among all women aged 15-49 years and currently pregnant women between surveys conducted from 2003 to 2008 (period 1) and 2009 to 2012 (period 2). Log-binomial regression was used to test for a difference in prevalence trend between the two groups. Prevalence among pregnant women was age-standardized to represent the age distribution of all women. RESULTS Pooling data for all countries, HIV prevalence declined among pregnant women from 6.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3-7.9%] to 5.3% (95% CI 4.2-6.6%) between periods 1 and 2, whereas it remained unchanged among all women at 8.4% (95% CI 8.0-8.9%) in period 1 and 8.3% (95% CI 7.9-8.8%) in period 2. Prevalence declined by 18% (95% CI -9-38%) more in pregnant women than nonpregnant women. Estimates were similar in Western, Eastern, and Southern regions of SSA; none were statistically significant (P>0.05). HIV prevalence decreased significantly among women aged 15-24 years while increasing significantly among women 35-49 years, who represented 29% of women but only 15% of pregnant women. Age-standardization of prevalence in pregnant women did not reconcile the discrepant trends because at older ages prevalence was lower among pregnant women than nonpregnant women. CONCLUSION As HIV prevalence in SSA has shifted toward older, less-fertile women, HIV prevalence among pregnant women has declined more rapidly than prevalence in women overall. Interpretation of ANC prevalence data to inform national HIV estimates should account for both age-specific fertility patterns and HIV-related sub-fertility.
منابع مشابه
Under-5 mortality due to HIV: regional levels and 1990–2009 trends
BACKGROUND Since at least the late 1990s, HIV has been viewed as a major threat to efforts by countries to reduce under-5 mortality. Previous work has documented increased under-5 mortality due to HIV from 1990 to 1999 in Africa. The current analysis presents estimates and trends in under-5 mortality due to HIV in low- and middle-income countries by region up to 2009. METHODS The analyses are...
متن کاملPrevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in Africa.
With the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women higher than 35% in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the number of HIV-infected children will continue to grow. It is estimated that almost 70% of the approximately 500,000 children who became infected with HIV in 1995 were born in sub-Saharan Africa. An effective intervention to prevent the vertical transmission of HIV is therefore most urgentl...
متن کاملPrevalence and pattern of HIV-related malnutrition among women in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis of demographic health surveys
BACKGROUND The world's highest HIV infection rates are found in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where adult prevalence in most countries exceeds 25%. Food shortages and malnutrition have combined with HIV/AIDS to bring some countries to the brink of crisis. The aim of this study was to describe prevalence of malnutrition among HIV-infected women and variations across socioeconomic status using data f...
متن کاملThe association between HIV and fertility in a cohort study in rural Tanzania.
Recent studies in sub-Saharan Africa have shown that fertility is reduced among HIV-infected women compared with uninfected women. The size and pattern of this fertility reduction has important implications for antenatal clinic-based surveillance of the epidemic and also for estimates and projections of the demographic impact of the epidemic. This paper examines the association between HIV and ...
متن کاملChallenges and Proposed Actions for HIV/AIDS Control among Children in Iran
It is estimated globally 3.2 million children were living with HIV in 2014, that mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the majority of them infected to HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, during delivery or breastfeeding (1). Antiretroviral therapy (ART) use during and after pregnancy is essential for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV (2). In the absence of any in...
متن کامل