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Zuma K, Simbayi L, Zungu N, Moyo S, Marinda E, Jooste S, North A, Nadol P, Aynalem G, Igumbor E, Dietrich C, Sigida S, Chibi B, Makola L, Kondlo L, Porter S, Ramlagan S. The HIV Epidemic in South Africa: Key Findings from 2017 National Population-Based Survey. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19138125. [PMID: 35805784 PMCID: PMC9265818 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19138125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV worldwide. South Africa has implemented five population-based HIV prevalence surveys since 2002 aimed at understanding the dynamics and the trends of the epidemic. This paper presents key findings from the fifth HIV prevalence, incidence, and behaviour survey conducted in 2017 following policy, programme, and epidemic change since the prior survey was conducted in 2012. A cross-sectional population-based household survey collected behavioural and biomedical data on all members of the eligible households. A total of 39,132 respondents from 11,776 households were eligible to participate, of whom 93.6% agreed to be interviewed, and 61.1% provided blood specimens. The provided blood specimens were used to determine HIV status, HIV incidence, viral load, exposure to antiretroviral treatment, and HIV drug resistance. Overall HIV incidence among persons aged 2 years and above was 0.48% which translates to an estimated 231,000 new infections in 2017. HIV prevalence was 14.0% translating to 7.9 million people living with HIV. Antiretroviral (ARV) exposure was 62.3%, with the lowest exposure among those aged 15 to 24 years (39.9%) with 10% lower ARV coverage among males compared to females. Viral suppression among those on treatment was high (87.3%), whilst HIV population viral load suppression was much lower (62.3%). In terms of risk behaviours, 13.6% of youth reported having had an early sexual debut (first sex before the age of 15 years), with more males reporting having done so (19.5%) than females (7.6%). Age-disparate relationships, defined as having a sexual partner 5+ years different from oneself,) among adolescents were more common among females (35.8%) than males (1.5%). Self-reported multiple sexual partnerships (MSPs), defined as having more than one sexual partner in the previous 12 months, were more commonly reported by males (25.5%) than females (9.0%). Condom use at last sexual encounter was highest among males than females. Three quarters (75.2%) of people reported they had ever been tested for HIV, with more females (79.3%) having had done so than males (70.9%). Two-thirds of respondents (66.8%) self-reported having tested for HIV in the past 12 months. Finally, 61.6% of males in the survey self-reported as having been circumcised, with circumcision being more common among youth aged 15–24 years (70.2%), Black Africans (68.9%), and those living in both rural informal (tribal) areas (65%) and urban areas (61.9%). Slightly more (51.2%) male circumcisions were reported to have occurred in a medical setting than in traditional settings (44.8%), with more young males aged 15–24 (62.6%) and men aged 25–49 (51.5%) reporting to have done so compared to most men aged 50 and older (57.1%) who reported that they had undergone circumcision in a traditional setting. The results of this survey show that strides have been made in controlling the HIV epidemic, especially in the reduction of HIV incidence, HIV testing, and treatment. Although condom use at last sex act remains unchanged, there continue to be some challenges with the lack of significant behaviour change as people, especially youth, continue to engage in risky behaviour and delay treatment initiation. Therefore, there is a need to develop or scale up targeted intervention programmes to increase HIV testing further and put more people living with HIV on treatment as well as prevent risky behaviours that put young people at risk of HIV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khangelani Zuma
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
- School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
- Correspondence:
| | - Leickness Simbayi
- Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town 8000, South Africa; (L.S.); (S.M.); (S.J.); (A.N.); (L.M.)
- Department of Psychiatry & Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
| | - Nompumelelo Zungu
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
- The School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa
| | - Sizulu Moyo
- Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town 8000, South Africa; (L.S.); (S.M.); (S.J.); (A.N.); (L.M.)
- School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
| | - Edmore Marinda
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
| | - Sean Jooste
- Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town 8000, South Africa; (L.S.); (S.M.); (S.J.); (A.N.); (L.M.)
| | - Alicia North
- Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town 8000, South Africa; (L.S.); (S.M.); (S.J.); (A.N.); (L.M.)
| | - Patrick Nadol
- Division of Global HIV and TB, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (P.N.); (G.A.); (E.I.); (C.D.); (S.P.)
| | - Getahun Aynalem
- Division of Global HIV and TB, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (P.N.); (G.A.); (E.I.); (C.D.); (S.P.)
| | - Ehimario Igumbor
- Division of Global HIV and TB, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (P.N.); (G.A.); (E.I.); (C.D.); (S.P.)
- School of Public Health, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
| | - Cheryl Dietrich
- Division of Global HIV and TB, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (P.N.); (G.A.); (E.I.); (C.D.); (S.P.)
| | - Salome Sigida
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
| | - Buyisile Chibi
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
| | - Lehlogonolo Makola
- Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town 8000, South Africa; (L.S.); (S.M.); (S.J.); (A.N.); (L.M.)
| | - Lwando Kondlo
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
| | - Sarah Porter
- Division of Global HIV and TB, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (P.N.); (G.A.); (E.I.); (C.D.); (S.P.)
| | - Shandir Ramlagan
- Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; (N.Z.); (E.M.); (S.S.); (B.C.); (L.K.); (S.R.)
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What's in a Name? A Mixed Method Study on How Young Women Who Sell Sex Characterize Male Partners and Their Use of Condoms. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2021; 87:652-662. [PMID: 33507013 DOI: 10.1097/qai.0000000000002623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Young women who sell sex (YWSS) are at disproportionate risk of HIV. Reducing YWSS' vulnerability requires engaging their male sexual partners. To achieve this, we need to understand the characteristics and dynamics of their sexual partnerships to inform effective interventions. METHODS We conducted a mixed-methods study to compare YWSS' qualitative descriptions of male partners with categories reported in a behavioral survey. Data were drawn from enrollment into an evaluation of the DREAMS initiative in Zimbabwe in 2017. As part of a respondent-driven sampling survey, we recruited 40 seed participants from 2 intervention and 4 comparison sites. We conducted semistructured interviews with 19 "seeds," followed by a behavioral survey with 2387 YWSS. We interpreted quantitative and qualitative data together to understand how YWSS perceived male sexual partners, assess how well survey variables related to narrative descriptions, and describe patterns of risk behavior within partnerships. RESULTS Qualitative data suggest survey categories "husband" and "client" reflect YWSS' perceptions but "regular partner/boyfriend" and "casual partner" do not. In interviews, use of the term "boyfriend" was common, describing diverse relationships with mixed emotional and financial benefits. More than 85% of male partners provided money to YWSS, but women were less likely to report condomless sex with clients than regular partners (11% vs 37%) and more likely to report condomless sex with partners who ever forced them to have sex (37% vs 21%). CONCLUSIONS Reducing HIV risk among YWSS requires prevention messages and tools that recognize diverse and changing vulnerability within and between sexual relationships with different male partners.
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Pregnancy Incidence and Fertility Desires Among Couples by HIV Status in Rakai, Uganda. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2019; 80:494-502. [PMID: 30664614 DOI: 10.1097/qai.0000000000001951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The desire for more children and pregnancy rates are influenced by many relationship dynamics and HIV serostatus of couples. SETTING Rakai Community Cohort Study in Uganda. METHODS Couple data were retrospectively linked from survey rounds between 2007 and 2015 to assess drivers of fertility desire and pregnancy incidence by HIV status (M-F-; M+F+; M-F+; and M+F-). Multivariable modified Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios of fertility desire, whereas multivariable Poisson regression was used to estimate incidence rate ratios of pregnancy associated with couple characteristics. RESULTS Six thousand six hundred forty-seven couples contributed to 7656 person-years. Approximately 40% of couples (where at least 1 HIV+) desired more children. Unmet need for family planning was evident; couples of medium or low Socioeconomic status and with coresident children had lower fertility desires but higher pregnancy rates. Older age, being in a polygamous union, and having a HIV+ spouse in care were associated with lower fertility desire while having an older male partner was associated with higher fertility desire. Pregnancy incidence was lower with older age, among women using hormonal contraception and condoms, HIV+ concordant couples and couples where the HIV+ spouse was in care while pregnancy incidence were higher among women who desired more children, and serodiscordant couples (M-F+). CONCLUSIONS There are many drivers of fertility desires and pregnancy rates, and HIV does not diminish the desire for more children. Unmet need for family planning was evident and highlighted the need to understand and meet the contraceptive needs of couples.
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Fearon E, Wiggins RD, Pettifor AE, MacPhail C, Kahn K, Selin A, Gómez-Olivé FX, Hargreaves JR. Friendships Among Young South African Women, Sexual Behaviours and Connections to Sexual Partners (HPTN 068). AIDS Behav 2019; 23:1471-1483. [PMID: 30684099 DOI: 10.1007/s10461-019-02406-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Friends could be influential on young women's sexual health via influences on sexual behaviours and as connections to sexual partners, but are understudied in sub-Saharan Africa. We cross-sectionally surveyed 2326 13-20 year-old young women eligible for grades 8-11 in rural South Africa about their sexual behaviour and up to three sexual partners. Participants each described five specific but unidentified friends and the relationships between them in an 'egocentric' network analysis design. We used logistic regression to investigate associations between friendship characteristics and participants' reports of ever having had sex (n = 2326) and recent condom use (n = 457). We used linear regression with random effects by participant to investigate friendship characteristics and age differences with sexual partners (n = 633 participants, 1051 partners). We found that it was common for friends to introduce young women to those who later became sexual partners, and having older friends was associated with having older sexual partners, (increase of 0.37 years per friend at least 1 year older, 95% CI 0.21-0.52, adjusted). Young women were more likely to report ever having had sex when more friends were perceived to be sexually active (adjusted OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.72-2.01 per friend) and when they discussed sex, condoms and HIV with friends. Perception of friends' condom use was not associated with participants' reported condom use. While this study is preliminary and unique in this population and further research should be conducted, social connections between friends and sexual partners and perceptions of friend sexual behaviours could be considered in the design of sexual health interventions for young women in South Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Fearon
- Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9 SH, UK.
| | - Richard D Wiggins
- Department of Social Science, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK
| | - Audrey E Pettifor
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
- Wits Reproductive Health Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Catherine MacPhail
- Wits Reproductive Health Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Medical Research Council/Wits University Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
| | - Kathleen Kahn
- Medical Research Council/Wits University Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Centre for Global Health Research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana
| | - Amanda Selin
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
| | - F Xavier Gómez-Olivé
- Medical Research Council/Wits University Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana
| | - James R Hargreaves
- Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9 SH, UK
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Beauclair R, Dushoff J, Delva W. Partner age differences and associated sexual risk behaviours among adolescent girls and young women in a cash transfer programme for schooling in Malawi. BMC Public Health 2018; 18:403. [PMID: 29587710 PMCID: PMC5872581 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5327-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 03/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Age disparities in sexual relationships have been proposed as a key risk factor for HIV transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence remains inconclusive. The SIHR study, a cluster randomised trial of a cash transfer programme in Malawi, found that young women in the intervention groups were less likely to have had a sexual partner aged 25 or older, and less likely to test positive for HIV and HSV-2 at follow-up compared to control groups. We examined the hypotheses that girls in the intervention groups had smaller age differences than control groups and that large age differences were associated with relationship-level HIV transmission risk factors: inconsistent condom use, sex frequency, and relationship duration. Methods We conducted an analysis of schoolgirls in the Schooling, Income, and Health Risk (SIHR) study aged 13-22 at baseline (n = 2907). We investigated the effects of study arm, trial stage and participant age on age differences in sexual relationships using a linear mixed-effects model. Cumulative-link mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effect of relationship age difference on condom use and sex frequency, and a Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the effect of relationship age difference on relationship duration. We controlled for the girl’s age, number of partners, study group and study round. Results Girls receiving cash transfers, on average, had smaller age differences in relationships compared to controls, though the estimated difference was not statistically significant (− 0.43 years; 95% CI: -1.03, 0.17). The older the participant was, the smaller her age differences (− 0.67 per 4-year increase in age; 95% CI: -0.99, − 0.35). Among controls, after the cash transfers had ended the average age difference was 0.82 years larger than during the intervention (95% CI: 0.43, 1.21), suggesting a possible indirect effect of the study on behaviour in the community as a whole. Across treatment groups, larger age differences in relationships were associated with lower levels of condom use, more frequent sex, and longer relationship durations. Conclusions Cash-transfer programmes may prevent HIV transmission in part by encouraging young women to form age-similar relationships, which are characterised by increased condom use and reduced sex frequency. The benefits of these programmes may extend to those who are not directly receiving the cash. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5327-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxanne Beauclair
- International Centre for Reproductive Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium. .,The South African Department of Science and Technology-National Research Foundation (DST-NRF) Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), Stellenbosch University, 19 Jonkershoek Road, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa.
| | - Jonathan Dushoff
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Wim Delva
- International Centre for Reproductive Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.,The South African Department of Science and Technology-National Research Foundation (DST-NRF) Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), Stellenbosch University, 19 Jonkershoek Road, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa.,Center for Statistics, Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan Building D, 3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium.,Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
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