ArticleBMC public health2023
The declining trend in HIV prevalence from population-based surveys in Cameroon between 2004 and 2018: myth or reality in the universal test and treat era?
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in African blood donors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EBioMedicine · 2024Pooled it
- Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns in Respiratory Tract Candidiasis and Risk Factors Among HIV-Infected Adults in South West Cameroon.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Epidemiology of HIV in Remote Equatorial Regions of Cameroon: High Prevalence in Older Adults and Regional Disparities.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, stigma perceptions, and practices towards HIV testing among youths aged 18-35 years in Kumba, Cameroon: a community-based cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Likelihood of Leveraging Augmented Reality Technology to Promote HIV Prevention and Treatment Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Cameroon: Cross-Sectional Survey.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Article
- Cost-effectiveness of health insurance among women engaged in transactional sex and impacts on HIV transmission in Cameroon: a mathematical model.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Depression and the revolving door of HIV care: using multistate approaches to understand complex longitudinal exposure/outcome relationships among a cohort of people entering HIV care in Cameroon from 2019 to 2020.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Increasing Access to Palliative Care in Cameroon: Progress, Gaps, and Recommendations.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Review
- Outcome of non-traumatic coma in a tertiary referral hospital in Cameroon.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2024Article
- Association between mass media exposure and HIV testing uptake in Cameroon.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Polygamy and safe sex negotiation among married women: evidence from Cameroon.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHIV remains an epidemic of major public health importance in Cameroon but a decline in HIV prevalence has been observed according to population-based surveys conducted in 2004, 2011 and 2018. We sought to review current evidence for declining HIV prevalence despite increasing survival owing to 'universal test and treat' and to explore the reason for the decrease, particularly the role of behavioural change.
methodsWe conducted a secondary analysis using HIV prevalence, behavioural and social determinants data of the Demographic and Health Survey Program databases. Trend lines were fitted to data that were available for a minimum of three points in time during the 1991-2018 period. Regression coefficients associated p-values and 95% confidence intervals were obtained using Microsoft Excel software.
resultsOverall adult HIV prevalence decreased significantly from 5.4% (95%CI: 4.8-6.0) in 2004 to 4.3% (95%CI: 3.8-4.8) in 2011 and further down to 2.7% (95%CI: 2.3-3.1) in 2018 at a rate of about 1.4% every septennium (β = -1.4, R² = 0.98, p = 0.03). Yet, the number of persons surviving with HIV increased from about 0.05 million in 1991 to 0.5 million in 2018 corresponding to an increase in access to antiretroviral therapy from less than 10% to universal coverage of 80% respectively. Concurrent reductions in risky sexual behaviours were observed: a delayed sexual debut by one year, decreased sexual violence by 7%, decreased polygamous unions by 16%, decreased multiple sexual partners by 15.3% and increased condom use by 26.3%.
conclusionThe observed decline in HIV prevalence is statistically valid and reflects the observed decline in risky sexual behaviour that need to be sustained by the National HIV programme. Though universal access to ART has increased the number of persons surviving with HIV, this has not led to an increased prevalence of HIV in a setting with a rising population.
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