Muula Adamson S, Ngulube Thabale J, Siziya Seter, Makupe Cecilia M, Umar Eric, Prozesky Hans Walter, Wiysonge Charles S, Mataya Ronald H
Department of Community Health, University of Malawi, College of Medicine, Chichiri, Blantyre, Malawi.
BMC Public Health. 2007 Apr 25;7:63. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-7-63.
HIV and AIDS are significant and growing public health concerns in southern Africa. The majority of countries in the region have national adult HIV prevalence estimates exceeding 10 percent. The increasing availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has potential to mitigate the situation. There is however concern that women may experience more barriers in accessing treatment programs than men.
A systematic review of the literature was carried out to describe the gender distribution of patients accessing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Southern Africa. Data on number of patients on treatment, their mean or median age and gender were obtained and compared across studies and reports.
The median or mean age of patients in the studies ranged from 33 to 39 years. While female to male HIV infection prevalence ratios in the southern African countries ranged from 1.2:1 to 1.6:1, female to male ratios on HAART ranged from 0.8: 1 to 2.3: 1. The majority of the reports had female: male ratio in treatment exceeding 1.6. Overall, there were more females on HAART than there were males and this was not solely explained by the higher HIV prevalence among females compared to males.
In most Southern African countries, proportionally more females are on HIV antiretroviral treatment than men, even when the higher HIV infection prevalence in females is accounted for. There is need to identify the factors that are facilitating women's accessibility to HIV treatment. As more patients access HAART in the region, it will be important to continue assessing the gender distribution of patients on HAART.
在南部非洲，艾滋病毒和艾滋病是日益严重且备受关注的公共卫生问题。该地区大多数国家的全国成人艾滋病毒感染率估计超过10%。高效抗逆转录病毒疗法（HAART）可用性的增加有可能缓解这一状况。然而，人们担心女性在获得治疗项目方面可能比男性面临更多障碍。
对文献进行系统综述，以描述南部非洲接受高效抗逆转录病毒疗法（HAART）的患者的性别分布情况。获取了关于接受治疗患者的数量、平均或中位年龄以及性别的数据，并在各项研究和报告之间进行比较。
研究中患者的中位或平均年龄在33至39岁之间。虽然南部非洲国家女性与男性的艾滋病毒感染率之比在1.2:1至1.6:1之间，但接受HAART治疗的女性与男性之比在0.8:1至2.3:1之间。大多数报告中接受治疗的女性与男性之比超过1.6。总体而言，接受HAART治疗的女性比男性多，这并不能完全用女性艾滋病毒感染率高于男性来解释。
在大多数南部非洲国家，即使考虑到女性较高的艾滋病毒感染率，接受艾滋病毒抗逆转录病毒治疗的女性比例仍高于男性。有必要确定促进女性获得艾滋病毒治疗的因素。随着该地区越来越多的患者接受HAART治疗，持续评估接受HAART治疗患者的性别分布情况将很重要。
