Spatial Clustering of Tuberculosis-HIV Coinfection in Ethiopia at Districts Level.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and treatable disease but it is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV). In addition, the emergence of the HIV pandemic has also had a major impact on TB incidence rates. There are studies in spatial patterns of TB and HIV separately in Ethiopia; there is, however, no information on spatial patterns of TB-HIV coinfection in the country at the districts level at least using yearly data. This paper, therefore, aimed at determining the spatial clustering of TB-HIV coinfection prevalence rates in the country at the districts level on an annual basis over a four-year period, 2015-2018. Methods: District-level aggregated data on the number of TB-HIV infections were obtained from the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health for 2015 to 2018. The univariate and bivariate global Moran's index, Getis-Ord Results: The district-level prevalence rate of HIV among TB patients was positively and significantly spatially autocorrelated with global Moran's Conclusions: The study presents detailed knowledge about the spatial clustering of TB-HIV coinfection in Ethiopia at the districts level, and the results could provide information for planning coordinated district-specific interventions to jointly control both diseases in Ethiopia.