AEGiS-14IAC: New tools for monitoring national seroprevalence of HIV: Result of the 2001 mali demographic and health survey.

14th International AIDS Conference

Barcelona, Spain - July 7-12, 2002

New tools for monitoring national seroprevalence of HIV: Result of the 2001 mali demographic and health survey.

Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. WeOrC1267)

Pappas G, Niambele I, Ryan C, Bougoudogo F, Baganizi E, Bicego G, Aboulafia CC, Sharman A, Ayad M
ORC Macro, Calverton, Maryland, United States

BACKGROUND: National population-based surveys provide an opportunity for improved information on the dynamics of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in developing countries. Over the past decade the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) began supplying national population-based estimates of levels of knowledge and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS, and risk behaviors have been based on questionnaire data for many developing countries. Over 150 Demographic and Health Surveys have been conducted in more than 50 countries since the inception of the program in 1983. The prospects for inclusion of HIV testing in national population-based surveys to produce national sero-prevalence rates will be explored in this paper.

METHODS: The Mali DHS 2001 was a nationally representative sample of 7807 persons that included study of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HIV/AIDS and HIV testing in the country. Fingerpick blood on cotton filter paper was collected for HIV testing. The over-all response rates to the blood collection was approximately 90%.

RESULTS: This first nationally representative sero-prevalence study of HIV from an African country revealed an HIV prevalence of 1.3 per cent for men (15-49 years) and 2 percent for women (15-59). Social and geographic distribution of the disease in Mali will be presented.

CONCLUSIONS: The completion of the Mali Demographic and Health Survey raises the prospects for inclusion of sero-prevalence in DHS for other countries. The role of national population-based HIV sero-prevalence studies will be discussed in the context of the need for "second-generation" HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation.

Keywords: AEGIS, HIV Infections, Health Surveys, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Prevalence, Federal Government, Risk-Taking, HIV Seropositivity, HIV Seroprevalence, Cross-Sectional Studies, Data Collection, Questionnaires, Mali, Human, Female, Male

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WeOrC1267