Africa HIV rates 'overestimated'
Fewer Africans may be infected with HIV/Aids than previously thought.
Friday, 9 January, 2004, 11:54 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3379707.stm
A survey by the Kenyan government has found that 6.7% of its people have the disease. Previous official estimates had put the figure at 15%.
The survey of 8,561 households across Kenya is the latest to suggest that HIV rates in sub-Saharan Africa may have been overestimated.
Other populated-based surveys carried out in Mali and Zambia have produced similar results.
According to UNAids, the UN body responsible for fighting Aids, 26.6m people living in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV/Aids.
That figure is based to a large extent on tests carried out on pregnant women at antenatal clinics. These tests are anonymous and the results are extrapolated to give a nationwide figure.
According to UNAids, 15% of Kenyans or 4.8m people have HIV. However, this latest survey raises serious questions about that figure.
The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey is carried out every five years and is used by ministers to plan health and social policies.
HIV tests
This latest survey was carried out in September last year. As part of the survey, people were asked if they would be tested for HIV. Some 70% of those asked agreed.
The tests were carried out by officials from the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. They found that 8.7% of women and 4.5% of men were HIV positive.
Infection rates ranged from less than 1% of those living in the country's North Eastern province to 14% in Nyanza.
Dr Kevin DeCock, the local director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the new figures the best HIV statistics in Kenya to date.
"The number of HIV infected people in Kenya ... is lower than previously estimated," he said.
Kenneth Chebet, director of Kenya's National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Programme, said the findings suggested around 1.4m people had the disease.
"The average number of people infected with HIV/AIDS has dropped from about 2.5m people four years ago," he said.
"The average was about 1.4 million people and this is the closest and most accurate estimate ever in the country."
In Mali, a similar health survey carried out by the government in 2001 found 1.7% of people were HIV positive. It had previously put as high as 4%.
Zambia's health survey, carried out in the same year, found 21.5% of people had the disease. It had previously been put at 27%.
Other countries in Africa are planning to carry out similar population based surveys to determine their true HIV infection rate.
These include Cameroon and Tanzania, with estimated HIV rates of 12% and 8% respectively.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3379707.stm
Published: 2004/01/09 11:54:35 GMT
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