Prevalence and characteristics of HIV infection among female sex workers in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo

Background. While studies have focused on HIV prevalence and incidence among fishing communities, there has been inadequate attention paid to the construction and perception of HIV risk among fisher folk. There has been limited research with respect to communities along Lake Albert on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Methods. We conducted a qualitative study on three landing sites of Butiaba, Bugoigo, and Wanseko on the shores of Lake Albert along the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Data were collected using 12 Focus Group Discussions and 15 key informant interviews. Analysis was done manually using content and thematic approaches. Results. Lakeshore livelihoods split families between men, women, and children with varying degrees of exposure to HIV infection risk. Sustaining a thriving fish trade was dependent on taking high risks. For instance, profits were high when the lake was stormy. Landing sites were characterized by widespread prostitution, alcohol consumption, drug abuse, and child labour. Such behaviors negatively affected minors and in many ways predisposed them to HIV infection. The lake shore-border heterogeneity resulted in a population with varying HIV knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and competencies to risk perception and adaptation amidst negative masculinities and negative resilience. Conclusion. The susceptibility of lakeshore communities to HIV is attributable to a complex combination of geo-socio, the available (health) services, economic, and cultural factors which converged around the fishing livelihood. This study reveals that HIV risk assessment is an interplay of plural rationalities within the circumstances and constraints that impinge on the daily lives by different actors. A lack of cohesion in a multiethnic setting with large numbers of outsiders and a large transient population made the available HIV interventions less effective.

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Prevalence and risk of HIV infection among female sex workers in Burkina Faso

International Journal of STD & AIDS ◽

10.1258/0956462981921909 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 146-150 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Salif Lankoande Nicolas ◽

Meda Lassana Sangare ◽

Issaka P Compaore ◽

Joseph Catraye ◽

Paul T Sanou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hiv Infection ◽

Burkina Faso ◽

Sex Workers ◽

Female Sex Workers ◽

Hiv Transmission ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

World Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Female Sex ◽

Bobo Dioulasso

Summary: Little information is available regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among female sex workers (FSW) in Burkina Faso, West Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, the 2 largest cities of the country, to determine the prevalence of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among FSWs, and to investigate the factors which were associated with HIV infection in this population. From October to November 1994, 426 FSWs were recruited. The method of anonymous and unlinked HIV screening recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) was used. The overall HIV seroprevalence was 58.2% (95% confidence interval: 53.4-62.9) and 52.6% of FSWs had at least one STD agent. The most common STDs were trichomoniasis (23%), syphilis (15%) and gonorrhoea (13%). In a logistic regression analysis, risk factors for HIV infection were high gravidity ( 2 pregnancies), low perception of personal risk of HIV infection, syphilis and the presence of genital warts. These results suggest that FSWs in Burkina Faso need better information about HIV transmission and prevention and then need better access to STD detection and management services.

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Was the HIV infection burden in female sex workers in China overestimated?

The Lancet Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1016/s1473-3099(12)70298-0 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 13 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Xiang-Sheng Chen ◽

Yue-Ping Yin ◽

Ning Jiang

Keyword(s):

Hiv Infection ◽

Sex Workers ◽

Female Sex Workers ◽

Female Sex

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Typology of older female sex workers and sexual risk for HIV infection in China: a qualitative study

Culture Health & Sexuality ◽

10.1080/13691058.2013.826820 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 47-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Chun Hao ◽

Hongjie Liu ◽

Susan G. Sherman ◽

Baofa Jiang ◽

Xiaojing Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Study ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

Sexual Risk ◽

Sex Workers ◽

Female Sex Workers ◽

Female Sex

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Identifying Risk Factors and Spatial Clustering of HIV Infection Among Female Sex Workers in India

International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health ◽

10.21106/ijtmrph.145 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 41-53

Author(s):

Elangovan Arumugam ◽

Vasna Joshua ◽

Santhakumar Aridoss ◽

Ganesh Balasubramanian ◽

Nagaraj Jaganathasamy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

Sex Work ◽

Sex Workers ◽

Female Sex Workers ◽

Component Analysis ◽

Index Score ◽

Data Set ◽

Female Sex ◽

Selling Sex

Background: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in India is generally considered to be more concentrated, with the focus on high-risk groups including female sex workers (FSWs). The Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance (IBBS), the first nationwide surveillance conducted during 2014-2015, collected many key indicators, including indicators related to HIV/STI transmission. The purpose of this study was to develop an index score for each domain surveyed and to identify focus areas for interventions among FSWs. Methods: The study population consisted of 27,007 FSWs. Forty high-risk related covariates of HIV/STI transmission, demographic characteristics, sexual history, condom practices, knowledge of HIV/STI and biological variables were considered. The original data set was examined using the correlation matrix and was reduced to 15 highly-correlated factors using principal component analysis. The factors were further improved using varimax rotation and the percentage of variation was used as weights to obtain the initial score for each domain, which were then standardized for comparison. Bartlett’s test of sphericity was examined before the factor extraction. Results: Six factors were extracted, which together explained about 73% of the total variation. The factors were: (1) more number of clients; (2) younger FSW and started selling sex at younger age; (3) experiencing condom breakage; (4) having occasional clients and poor HIV/AIDS knowledge; (5) illiteracy; and (6) a longer period of sex work. Six domains with an index score of above 80, from the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand need greater intervention. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: FSWs’ current age, age at commencement of sex work, and the number of clients were the indicators most-associated with HIV infection. Therefore, program and policy interventions should focus on FSWs who are younger than <25 years, who started selling sex at <22 years, and who have >10 clients. Key words: • Female Sex Worker • Kriged Map • Factor Analysis • Principle Component Analysis • HIV • Sexually Transmitted Infections Copyright © 2021 Elangovan et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

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