Abstract
Background: Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Gabon are the highly HIV/AIDS prevalent West African countries. However, studies show that nationally representative or comparative studies had never been done. Hence, this study was focused on associates of comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge and acceptance attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) among male youth of the three countries and comparison by country. Method: We utilized nationally representative datasets from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of Ivory Coast 2011/2012, Cameroon 2011 and Gabon 2012. A total of 6576 male youth; 1811 (27.5%) Ivorian, 2803 (42.6%) Cameroonian and 1962 (29.8%) Gabonese was taken. We used IBM SPSS version 22 to run multivariate logistic regression taking p-values less than 0.05 as significant. Results: The comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS and acceptance attitude towards PLHA in all the three countries were low; especially knowledge in Ivory Coast (39.1%) and attitude in Gabon (22.5%) were very low. On multivariate analysis, only age, residence, educational level, and wealth index were significant associates of comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge. On the other hand, age, religion, educational level, and wealth index were significant associates of acceptance attitude towards PLHA. On comparison, Gabonese (AOR=1.50, p<0.001) and Cameroonians (AOR=1.44, p<0.001) were more likely to have comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge than Ivorians. However, Ivorians were 1.18 (AOR=0.85, p=0.032) and Cameroonians were1.26 (AOR=1.26, p=0.001) times more likely to have acceptance attitude than Gabonese. Conclusion: Comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge and acceptance attitude towards PLHA in the three countries and specifically, acceptance attitude in Gabon was considerably low. Hence, it is crucial to give emphasis on planning policy of transmitting information to youth in a contextually applicable to the socio-cultural differences.
Highlights
Total estimate of HIV infected people was 36.9 million, out of which 25.8 million were living in sub-Saharan Africa, in 2014 [1]
The analysis in this research was based on data collected from the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Cameroon (2011), Gabon (2012) and Ivory Coast (2011/2012) [21]
The fact that probability proportionate to size was used in selecting the samples and defining the dependent variables based on the MEASURE Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) online tools for HIV/AIDS Survey Indicators Database of the three countries were two advantages of the data [22]
Summary
Total estimate of HIV infected people was 36.9 million, out of which 25.8 million were living in sub-Saharan Africa, in 2014 [1]. The epidemics in West Africa accounted for 6.6 million [5.9 million–7.5 million] people living with HIV. Despite the annual number of people newly infected by HIV has dropped from 3.1 million to 2.0 million in the last 15 years globally, the HIV epidemic in Western Africa has shown unwavering pattern and even an increment in some countries [2,3]. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has increased from 4.3% in 2011 to 4.8% in 2014 in Cameroon, the first highly exposed West African country [4,5]. Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Gabon are the highly HIV/AIDS prevalent West African countries. This study was focused on associates of comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge and acceptance attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) among male youth of the three countries and comparison by country
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
