HIV Shifting From Most To Least Educated In Sub-Saharan Africa

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HIV Shifting From Most To Least Educated In Sub-Saharan Africa

ScienceDaily (Jan. 15, 2008) — HIV infections appear to be

concentrating among the least educated people in Africa, reversing

previous patterns which saw higher levels of infection among the

most educated, according to a study published today in the journal

AIDS.

A team led by Dr. Hargreaves of the London School of Hygiene &

Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) sought to assess whether the profile of

people infected with HIV is changing over time in sub-Saharan Africa.

HIV has spread rapidly in Africa, the world's poorest region, and is

widely characterised as a disease of poverty. However, the situation

is more complex than this. In 2001, an LSHTM team, also led by Dr.

Hargreaves, found that before 1996, individuals with the highest

levels of education were often more likely to be infected with HIV

than less educated people, perhaps because they were wealthier, more

mobile and had broader networks of sexual partners.

The new article updates this work and draws a different conclusion.

The LSHTM team screened over 4000 research papers to identify

relevant data collected all around the world, eventually identifying

36 studies conducted in 11 countries between 1987 and 2003

representing data on over 200,000 individuals.

They found that in data from after 1996 more studies found a lower

risk of HIV infection among the most educated. Where data over time

were available from the same place, HIV prevalence fell more

consistently among highly educated groups than among less educated

groups. HIV prevalence sometimes rose among the less educated even

while it fell among the overall population.

Dr. Hargreaves comments: 'At the time of our initial review, we

speculated that, as HIV education campaigns developed in sub-Saharan

Africa, the most educated, empowered members of society would be the

first to adopt protective behaviours such as reducing numbers of

partners and using condoms. And since HIV campaigns are often

delivered within schools, we also speculated that those who stayed

in school longer might be exposed to more health education messages

and as a result adopt protective behaviours. We predicted that, in

the absence of effective interventions that engaged the least

educated, HIV would, over time, increasingly become concentrated in

this group.

'These results are partly good news. They confirm that HIV

prevalence is falling, sometimes quite steeply, in some groups of

people. This is probably at least partly because of the global

response to the epidemic so far. But our new study also indicates

that our fears were justified: HIV is increasingly becoming

concentrated among the most vulnerable members of society. We

conclude that more needs to be done to encourage educational

achievement across the whole of society if we are to stem the tide

of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa'.

Journal reference: Hargreaves JR, Glynn JR. Educational attainment

and HIV-1 infection in developing countries: a systematic review.

Trop Med Int Health 2002, 7:489-498.

Adapted from materials provided by London School of Hygiene &

Tropical Medicine.

[Guest guest]

HIV Shifting From Most To Least Educated In Sub-Saharan Africa

ScienceDaily (Jan. 15, 2008) — HIV infections appear to be

concentrating among the least educated people in Africa, reversing

previous patterns which saw higher levels of infection among the

most educated, according to a study published today in the journal

AIDS.

A team led by Dr. Hargreaves of the London School of Hygiene &

Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) sought to assess whether the profile of

people infected with HIV is changing over time in sub-Saharan Africa.

HIV has spread rapidly in Africa, the world's poorest region, and is

widely characterised as a disease of poverty. However, the situation

is more complex than this. In 2001, an LSHTM team, also led by Dr.

Hargreaves, found that before 1996, individuals with the highest

levels of education were often more likely to be infected with HIV

than less educated people, perhaps because they were wealthier, more

mobile and had broader networks of sexual partners.

The new article updates this work and draws a different conclusion.

The LSHTM team screened over 4000 research papers to identify

relevant data collected all around the world, eventually identifying

36 studies conducted in 11 countries between 1987 and 2003

representing data on over 200,000 individuals.

They found that in data from after 1996 more studies found a lower

risk of HIV infection among the most educated. Where data over time

were available from the same place, HIV prevalence fell more

consistently among highly educated groups than among less educated

groups. HIV prevalence sometimes rose among the less educated even

while it fell among the overall population.

Dr. Hargreaves comments: 'At the time of our initial review, we

speculated that, as HIV education campaigns developed in sub-Saharan

Africa, the most educated, empowered members of society would be the

first to adopt protective behaviours such as reducing numbers of

partners and using condoms. And since HIV campaigns are often

delivered within schools, we also speculated that those who stayed

in school longer might be exposed to more health education messages

and as a result adopt protective behaviours. We predicted that, in

the absence of effective interventions that engaged the least

educated, HIV would, over time, increasingly become concentrated in

this group.

'These results are partly good news. They confirm that HIV

prevalence is falling, sometimes quite steeply, in some groups of

people. This is probably at least partly because of the global

response to the epidemic so far. But our new study also indicates

that our fears were justified: HIV is increasingly becoming

concentrated among the most vulnerable members of society. We

conclude that more needs to be done to encourage educational

achievement across the whole of society if we are to stem the tide

of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa'.

Journal reference: Hargreaves JR, Glynn JR. Educational attainment

and HIV-1 infection in developing countries: a systematic review.

Trop Med Int Health 2002, 7:489-498.

Adapted from materials provided by London School of Hygiene &

Tropical Medicine.