HIV and AIDS in Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Adult Population ◽  
Hiv Prevalence ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Aids Pandemic ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Women And Girls

Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV, with an estimated 25.7 million HIV-positive people in Africa by the end of 2018. This figure represents over two-thirds of infected people globally. African women and girls represent a majority of those infected, and Africa is home to three-fourths of all HIV-infected women and girls. Across African countries, there are differences in the sizes and trajectories of HIV epidemics. Southern Africa has the worst epidemic, with the numbers infected still rising in some countries. Prompting a development and governance crisis in many southern African countries, HIV prevalence rates are as high as 20 percent of the adult population in some countries and nearing 50 percent of the adult population in certain communities. East Africa too has been hit hard by HIV, leading to high mortality and morbidity rates in that region as well. In most of West and North Africa, there has been limited spread of HIV, with most countries in these regions having HIV prevalence rates of less than 3 percent. Africa’s encounter with HIV and AIDS began before it was first identified as a medical condition early in the 1980s. However, it was not recognized as an epidemic in most parts of Africa until much later. Framed largely as a public health crisis rather than a developmental one, much of the world’s focus on the AIDS pandemic in Africa has centered on access to treatment, and developing effective prevention strategies that have principally focused on behavior change practices for targeted populations. However, the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Africa did not emerge in a vacuum. It is the consequence of longer historical processes such as massive demographic growth, urbanization, and social change, as well as global inequalities and historical legacies of colonialism and imperialism. In this regard, a historical account of HIV in Africa offers an important corrective to the dominant biomedical response to AIDS in Africa. It is important to take note of longer historical processes that have shaped both the virus and the human response to it.

scholarly journals The Mental Health Under the COVID-19 Crisis in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyao Chen ◽  
Nusrat Farah ◽  
Rebecca Kechen Dong ◽  
Richard Z Chen ◽  
Wen Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Mental Health Symptoms ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Health Symptoms ◽  
Pooled Prevalence ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Objective: In this paper, we aim to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence rates of mental health symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia among the major populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: We search and include articles using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and medRxiv databases between Feb 202 and Feb 6th, 2021. Eligibility criteria and data analysis: The meta-analysis targets the prevalence rates of mental health symptoms of major populations including frontline/general healthcare workers (HCWs), the general adult population, and medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. To estimate the prevalence rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia, we pooled data using random-effects meta-analyses. Results: In this meta-analysis, we identify and include 28 studies and 32 independent samples from 12 countries with a total of 15,072 participants in Africa. Ethiopia (7) and Egypt (6) had the largest number of studies. While many countries including, but not limited to, Algeria, Kenya, and Ghana had a high number of COVID-19 cases, as many as three quarters of African countries have no studies. The pooled prevalence of anxiety in 27 studies was 37% (95%CI: 31-43%, I2 = 99.0%) and that of depression in 24 studies was 45% (95%CI: 36-51%, I2 = 99.5%) and that of insomnia in 9 studies was 28% (95%CI: 20-41%, I2 = 99.2%). The pooled prevalence rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia in North Africa (44%, 55%, and 31%, respectively) are higher than the rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (31%, 30%, and 24%, respectively). Our analysis indicated high heterogeneity and varying prevalence rates of mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Discussion: We discuss our findings that a) a scarcity of studies in several African countries with a high number of COVID-19 cases, b) high heterogeneity among the studies, c) the extent of prevalence of mental health symptoms in Africa to be high, and d) the pattern of mental health symptoms in Africa differs from elsewhere, i.e., more African adults suffer from depression rather than anxiety and insomnia during COVID 19 compared to adult population in other countries or regions. Hence, our findings carry crucial implications for healthcare organizations and future research to enable evidence-based medicine in Africa. Our findings also call for increased scholarly attention on Africa, the least studied continent with a limited amount of research on mental health symptoms under the COVID 19 pandemic. Keywords: Mental Health; Prevalence; Pandemic; General Population; Healthcare Workers; Anxiety; Depression; Insomnia Trial registration: CRD42020224458  

HIV and AIDS Stigma Violates Human Rights in Five African Countries

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thecla W Kohi ◽  
Lucy Makoae ◽  
Maureen Chirwa ◽  
William L Holzemer ◽  
Deliwe RenéPhetlhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Nurse Managers ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Aids Stigma ◽  
The Right ◽  
Living With Hiv

The situation and human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS were explored through focus groups in five African countries (Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania). A descriptive qualitative research design was used. The 251 informants were people living with HIV and AIDS, and nurse managers and nurse clinicians from urban and rural settings. NVivo™ software was used to identify specific incidents related to human rights, which were compared with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The findings revealed that the human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS were violated in a variety of ways, including denial of access to adequate or no health care/services, and denial of home care, termination or refusal of employment, and denial of the right to earn an income, produce food or obtain loans. The informants living with HIV and AIDS were also abused verbally and physically. Country governments and health professionals need to address these issues to ensure the human rights of all people.

scholarly journals Online search trend reveals declining interest in AIDS-related searches relative to HIV-related searches in South Africa (v.3)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babatunde Okunoye
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Aids Pandemic ◽  
The World ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Hiv Aids

BACKGROUNDThe Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a leading cause of mortality on the African continent and world. HIV and AIDS are among the greatest public health challenges confronting health authorities around the world, with Nigeria and South Africa having the greatest incidence of the disease in the world. There is little research into how Africans meet their health information needs on HIV/AIDS online, and this research gap impacts programming and educational responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. METHODSData on search trends on HIV and AIDS for South Africa was found using the search terms ‘’HIV’ and ‘’AIDS’’ (categories: health, web search), on Google Trends. This was compared with data on estimated adults and children living with HIV, and AIDS-related deaths in South Africa, the Joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS, and also with search interest in the topics ‘’HIV’’ and ‘’AIDS’’ on Wikipedia Afrikaans, the most developed local language Wikipedia service in South Africa. Nonparametric statistical tests were conducted to support the trends and associations identified in the data.RESULTS Google Trends shows a statistically significant decline in search interest for AIDS relative to HIV in South Africa. This trend mirrors progress on the ground in South Africa, significantly associated with a decline in AIDS-related deaths and people living longer with the HIV virus. This trend was also replicated on Wikipedia Afrikaans, where there was a greater interest in HIV than AIDS.LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDYThis paper reports on how in general, interest in search terms ‘’HIV’’ and ‘’AIDS’’ mirrors the decline in AIDS cases and the increase in people living with HIV in South Africa. Nevertheless, there is an acknowledgement that the population of health information seekers on HIV/AIDS online may be quite different from the offline population. For instance, not everyone living with HIV/AIDS may be connected online or use search engines, and there is a difference in the number of people connected to the Internet over the years of the study 2004 – 2019. Hence, this paper is not an exact mapping of the online behaviour of all the people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. CONCLUSIONThis observed trend might be an indicator that multilateral efforts at combating HIV/AIDS, particularly through awareness raising and behavioural interventions in South Africa is bearing fruit, not just on the ground, but also reflected in the online information seeking on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A major obstacle to combating the impacts of disease in developing countries is the paucity of high-quality health data, particularly understanding the health information needs of people. Without understanding people’s everyday concerns, health organizations and policymakers are less able to effectively target education and programming efforts for all gender and age-groups. The information needs of people, and their everyday concerns are often expressed via search engine queries as millions go online to meet health information needs.

Comparing the Impact of Religious Discourse on HIV/AIDS in Islam and Christianity in Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sloane Speakman
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Hiv Prevalence ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

In examining the strikingly high prevalence rates of HIV in many parts of Africa, reaching as high as 5% in some areas, how does the discourse promoted by the predominant religions across the continent, Islam and Christianity, affect the outlook of their followers on the epidemic? This question becomes even more intriguing after discovering the dramatic difference in rate of HIV prevalence between Muslims and Christians in Africa, confirmed by studies that have found a negative relationship to exist between HIV prevalence and being Muslim in Africa, even in Sub-Saharan African nations. Why does this gap in prevalence rates exist? Does Islam advocate participating in less risky behavior more so than Christianity? By comparing the social construction, epidemiological understanding and public responses among Muslim populations in Africa with Christian ones, it becomes apparent that many similarities exist between the two regarding discourse and that, rather than religious discourse itself, other social factors, such as circumcision practices, contribute more to the disparity in HIV prevalence than originally thought.

Modelling and estimation of HIV prevalence and number of people living with HIV in India, 2010–2011

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (14) ◽  
pp. 1257-1266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujwal Raj ◽  
Damodar Sahu ◽  
Arvind Pandey ◽  
S Venkatesh ◽  
DCS Reddy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevalence ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Living With Hiv

scholarly journals An Emerging Syndemic of Smoking and Cardiopulmonary Diseases in People Living with HIV in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3111
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Peprah ◽  
Mari Armstrong-Hough ◽  
Stephanie H. Cook ◽  
Barbara Mukasa ◽  
Jacquelyn Y. Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Current Evidence ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Cardiopulmonary Disease ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Artery Disease ◽  
Living With Hiv

Background: African countries have the highest number of people living with HIV (PWH). The continent is home to 12% of the global population, but accounts for 71% of PWH globally. Antiretroviral therapy has played an important role in the reduction of the morbidity and mortality rates for HIV, which necessitates increased surveillance of the threats from pernicious risks to which PWH who live longer remain exposed. This includes cardiopulmonary comorbidities, which pose significant public health and economic challenges. A significant contributor to the cardiopulmonary comorbidities is tobacco smoking. Indeed, globally, PWH have a 2–4-fold higher utilization of tobacco compared to the general population, leading to endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis that result in cardiopulmonary diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary artery disease. In the context of PWH, we discuss (1) the current trends in cigarette smoking and (2) the lack of geographically relevant data on the cardiopulmonary conditions associated with smoking; we then review (3) the current evidence on chronic inflammation induced by smoking and the potential pathways for cardiopulmonary disease and (4) the multifactorial nature of the syndemic of smoking, HIV, and cardiopulmonary diseases. This commentary calls for a major, multi-setting cohort study using a syndemics framework to assess cardiopulmonary disease outcomes among PWH who smoke. Conclusion: We call for a parallel program of implementation research to promote the adoption of evidence-based interventions, which could improve health outcomes for PWH with cardiopulmonary diseases and address the health inequities experienced by PWH in African countries.

scholarly journals Community hygiene against lassa fever disease and its predictors in a Nigerian rural settlement

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A A Gobir ◽  
C L Ejembi ◽  
A A Aliyu ◽  
M B Garba ◽  
C J C Igboanusi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Lassa Fever ◽  
West African ◽  
World Health ◽  
Food Storage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Viral Haemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Hygiene Measures

Abstract Background Lassa fever disease (LFD) is a viral haemorrhagic fever that is endemic in some West african countries where an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 cases and 5000 deaths occur yearly. The World Health Organization described it as a global health threat. At community level, its prevention relies on promoting good “community hygiene”. This study was conducted to assess practice of community hygiene measures against LFD and its associated factors. Methods A cross-sectional, community based descriptive study conducted during a LFD epidemic in a a rural community of Nigeria. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 556 adult respondents, selected using systematic random sampling technique. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results A majority of the respondents were females (52.9%). Educational attainment was significantly associated with safe food storage at the multivariate level (aOR= 1.31, 95% CI: 1.10-1.54,P= 0.002) while having a good knowledge of LFD was a significant predictor of maintaining good housing standards (aOR= 3.73, 95% CI: 1.09-12.80,P=0.036). Conclusions Predictors of practice of community hygiene against LFD include education and having an excellent knowledge of LFD. To improve community hygiene practices in the community, there is need for a comprehensive LFD behavior change communication intervention. Key messages Cubing the global threat of LFD depends on its effective prevention in endemic West African communities. This study shows that such preventive measures are poor and there is need for more response to address the problem.

scholarly journals Use of pembrolizumab with or without pomalidomide in HIV-associated non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e002097
Author(s):  
Kathryn Lurain ◽  
Ramya Ramaswami ◽  
Ralph Mangusan ◽  
Anaida Widell ◽  
Irene Ekwede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
B Cell ◽  
Hodgkin’S Lymphoma ◽  
Cell Lymphoma ◽  
B Cell Lymphoma ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Hodgkin's Lymphoma ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Oncogenic Viruses ◽  
Non Hodgkin’S Lymphoma ◽  
Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma

BackgroundNon-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is currently the most common malignancy among people living with HIV (PLWH) in the USA. NHL in PLWH is more frequently associated with oncogenic viruses than NHL in immunocompetent individuals and is generally associated with increased PD-1 expression and T cell exhaustion. An effective immune-based second-line approach that is less immunosuppressive than chemotherapy may decrease infection risk, improve immune control of oncogenic viruses, and ultimately allow for better lymphoma control.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study of patients with HIV-associated lymphomas treated with pembrolizumab±pomalidomide in the HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute.ResultsWe identified 10 patients with stage IV relapsed and/or primary refractory HIV-associated NHL who were treated with pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inihibitor, with or without pomalidomide. Five patients had primary effusion lymphoma (PEL): one had germinal center B cell-like (GCB) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL); two had non-GCB DLBCL; one had aggressive B cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified; and one had plasmablastic lymphoma. Six patients received pembrolizumab alone at 200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks, three received pembrolizumab 200 mg intravenously every 4 weeks plus pomalidomide 4 mg orally every day for days 1–21 of a 28-day cycle; and one sequentially received pembrolizumab alone and then pomalidomide alone. The response rate was 50% with particular benefit in gammaherpesvirus-associated tumors. The progression-free survival was 4.1 months (95% CI: 1.3 to 12.4) and overall survival was 14.7 months (95% CI: 2.96 to not reached). Three patients with PEL had leptomeningeal disease: one had a complete response and the other two had long-term disease control. There were four immune-related adverse events (irAEs), all CTCAEv5 grade 2–3; three of the four patients were able to continue receiving pembrolizumab. No irAEs occurred in patients receiving the combination of pembrolizumab and pomalidomide.ConclusionsTreatment of HIV-associated NHL with pembrolizumab with or without pomalidomide elicited responses in several subtypes of HIV-associated NHL. This approach is worth further study in PLWH and NHL.

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