N. Kunene¹, M. Gella², T. Gala^1,

More than 2/3 of global HIV/AIDS epidemics, as well as seven in ten of all HIV/AIDs death, are reported in Africa. The economic burden of the disease in terms of treatment and prevention for an already impoverished continent is enormous. Several international organizations are engaging Africa to alleviate the disease epidemics and its economic impacts. This study attempted to determine the geographical controls of HIV/AIDS prevalence rates and established a relationship with demographic, social and economic determinants. Accordingly, significant (I = 0.71; α = 0.5) geographical clustering of adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rates were detected, such that the higher rates are clustered in the southern African countries, while the west African countries have the clustering of the lowest rates. The demographic, social and economic factors such as literacy (female) rate, life expectancy at birth, contraceptive prevalence rate, education expenditure and percent Muslim population, significantly explained the variability of the Adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rates (R² = 0.81 – 0.84; α = 0.05) in Africa. This result highlights the need for geographically-resolved resource allocation, particularly in the areas of primary education and gender participation for the fight against HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS, risk factors, spatial pattern analysis, spatial regression, Sub-Saharan Africa