Abstract
BackgroundDue to high HIV prevalence among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Cameroon (36.5%), this population is especially vulnerable to HIV acquisition and transmission nationwide. Though being prioritized in the national HIV response, it would be relevant to generate statistics on the number of FSWs in order to guide HIV interventions among FSWs. Our objective was to estimate the size of FSWs within hotspots of Cameroon.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from September-November 2015 in selected cities in Cameroon: Bafoussam, Bamenda, Bertoua, Buea, Douala, Kribi, Limbé, and Yaoundé. A programmatic mapping was used, consisting of interviews with secondary key informants (KI) to identify hotspots of FSWs and their respective estimated numbers. Validation of size estimates was done by interviews with FSW at each hotspot. Size estimations in the councils mapped were extended to others not mapped using a Poisson regression model.ResultsA total of 2,194 hotspots were identified: Douala (760), Yaoundé (622), Bamenda (263), Bafoussam (194), Kribi (154), Bertoua (140), Limbé (35), and Buea (26). The estimated total number (range) of FSWs was 21,124 (16,079–26,170), distributed per city as follows: Douala 7,557 (5,550–9,364), Yaoundé 6,596 (4,712–8,480), Bafoussam 2,458 (1,994–2,923), Bamenda 1,975 (1,605–2,345), Kribi 1,121 (832–1,408), Bertoua 1,044 (891–1,198), Buea 225 (185–266), and Limbé 148 (110–148). The variability of estimates among cities was also observed within the councils of each city. The national predicted estimate of FSW population was 112,580 (103,436–121,723), covering all councils of Cameroon. An estimate of 1.91% (112,580/5,881,526; 0.47%-3.36%) adult female population in Cameroon could be sex workers.ConclusionThere are considerable numbers of FSW in major cities in Cameroon. There is a need to prioritize interventions for HIV prevention toward this population in order to limit the burden of HIV sexual transmission nationwide.
Highlights
HIV prevalence is considerably higher among sex workers compared to the general population, with an estimated 15% of HIV positive cases in the adult female population attributable to female sex work and about 106,000 attributed deaths globally [1]
Due to high HIV prevalence among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Cameroon (36.5%), this population is especially vulnerable to HIV acquisition and transmission nationwide
Cameroon is committed to improving its HIV/AIDS response towards Key Populations (KPs), including FSWs
Summary
HIV prevalence is considerably higher among sex workers compared to the general population, with an estimated 15% of HIV positive cases in the adult female population attributable to female sex work and about 106,000 attributed deaths globally [1]. With a 36.5% HIV prevalence rate among female sex workers (FSW), this population plays a very important role in the overall HIV transmission dynamics in Cameroon [7], and it is a priority population for programmatic interventions [8]. It has become essential to quantify the size of FSWs for effective planning, monitoring and evaluation of programmatic impacts nationwide. Such information is critical for decision-making and for effective HIV prevention for FSWs both at the macro and micro levels. Due to high HIV prevalence among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Cameroon (36.5%), this population is especially vulnerable to HIV acquisition and transmission nationwide. Our objective was to estimate the size of FSWs within hotspots of Cameroon
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