Colonial and Socio-economic History and HIV Prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Multi-Level Model Analysis

Abstract

The present study shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, besides some individual characteristics (including gender, age, education, marital status, place of residence and the wealth index), the colonial and socio-economic history of an individual’s living country significantly determines his/her current-day probability of being HIV positive. As a matter of fact, by using, essentially, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data of 16 African countries, we noticed that the risk of infection is higher among people living in Southern or Eastern Africa and lower in Western African countries. Those relatively high risk countries are generally land-locked and got their independence very early. They had relatively high fertility and HIV prevalence rate in the 80’s and their legal system is derived from Common Law and Custom regulations. Compared to people in France former colonial countries, inhabitants of Belgium or both France and the United Kingdom former colonial countries have higher prevalence.