Baseline and Post-intervention Surveys of the Prevalence of HIV in an African Rural Population and Women in the Brothel

HIVremains amajor global public health challenge despite all effortsto end the endemic since the 1980s.Thisstudy is aimed to determine the baseline and postinterventionHIVprevalence among female sexworkers(FSW) and in the population ofBonny Island.Materials and

The study is a quantitative study involving the general population of the Bonny Kingdom and the FSW in baseline and postintervention surveys. Blood samples were collected and tested for HIV. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 25.

A total of 1104 blood samples were tested for HIV in both surveys. The baseline HIV prevalence was 4.5% and 1.8% in the postintervention. The prevalence ratio of baseline/postintervention was 2.5 (confidence interval [CI] 1.2–5.8; P = 0.011). HIV prevalence was 4.5% in both males and females in the baseline survey as compared to 1.9% and 3.8% in postintervention. The HIV prevalence ratio in females was 3.8 (CI: 1.0–21.1, P = 0.025), but no significant difference was observed among males. Baseline HIV prevalence was 7.0 among age 25–34 years and 0.5% in postintervention with a prevalence ratio of 12.9 (CI: 2.0–54.9; P < 0.001). The highest prevalence in the baseline survey was observed among FSW (14.0%) and 1.2% in the postintervention with a prevalence ratio of 14.3 (CI: 2.2–60.3; P < 0.001). HIV prevalence was significantly higher among FSWs aged 25 or more, full time, had more than one client and have spent over a year in sex work (P < 0.05).

The reduction in the prevalence of HIV seen at the postintervention survey could be attributed to the 3 years of interventions. However, the intervention programs should be sustained and ever scaled up to prevent, control of HIV