Africa’s Contribution to HIV Research Low Relative to Its Burden

MONDAY, June 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Africa's contribution to global HIV research is relatively low compared to its burden of infection, according to a study published online June 22 in PLOS Global Public Health.

Mukhtar A. Ijaiya, from Jhpiego in Nigeria, and colleagues described HIV research output in Africa by country from 1986 to 2020 by searching the PubMed database. A total of 83,527 articles from African countries were included for analysis.

The researchers found that 54 percent of the total indexed publications were accounted for by the Republic of South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria, with 33.2 percent, 8.4 percent, 7.3 percent, and 5.1 percent, respectively. A strong positive and statistically significant correlation was seen between the total indexed HIV publications and countries’ gross domestic product, population, and estimated number of persons living with HIV.

"Africa's contribution to global HIV research output increased over the 35-year period, but it remained relatively low compared to the continent's burden of HIV infections," the authors write. "Our results on the underrepresentation of Africa in global HIV research output can inform policy decisions aimed at addressing these disparities in other fields, such as COVID-19 research."

Abstract/Full Text