Community-based intervention is necessary for the control of HIV in North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives: To determine factors associated with the observed high prevalence of HIV in North-Central Nigeria.

Methods: In a cross-sectional multisite study conducted in 2007, behavioral, medical, and demographic data were obtained from pregnant women (N = 1011) who were tested for the presence of antibody against HIV-1 and HIV-2.

Results: The overall prevalence of HIV-1 in the 1011 women included in the study was 10.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 8.4-12.2). In the multivariate analysis, HIV-1 seropositivity was significantly associated with women from the Makurdi (odds ratio (OR) 31.3, 95% CI 3.8-255.7) and Minna (OR 15.4, 95% CI 1.7-135.1) sites in comparison with Panyam site. The presence of tuberculosis (OR 10.7, 95% CI 2.4-48.3) was also significantly associated with HIV-1 seropositive status. Factors associated with HIV-1 also differed between sites. The presence of antibody against HIV-2 was not observed.

Conclusions: The high HIV-1 prevalence observed in this study corroborates previous observations in North-Central Nigeria. Disparity in the prevalence across communities was also seen. This is the only detailed socio-epidemiological and behavioral study that has explored potential factors associated with HIV-1 in North-Central Nigeria, and it revealed that differences in risk factors explain the disparity in prevalence across communities.