UNAIDS Defends Its Past Estimates Of Kenya's HIV Prevalence
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Source: http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040114/449_12041.asp
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
The Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) yesterday refuted
as "unfounded" reports last week that it overestimated HIV/AIDS
prevalence rates for Kenya and said it welcomed new data from a
Kenyan survey which tested 3,000 households.
UNAIDS said U.N. surveys use all available data, including both
household surveys and antenatal surveys involving pregnant
women, to estimate levels and trends in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The Kenyan survey found that 6.7 percent of the population was
HIV-positive, compared to the 9.4 percent estimated by UNAIDS
and the World Health Organization for 2003. However, when broken
down by gender, UNAIDS said, the survey found an HIV prevalence
of 8.7 percent among women, which it said is in the same range
as the U.N. figure of 9.4 percent.
According to UNAIDS, the survey also found an HIV prevalence of
4.5 percent among men, significantly lower than expected, which
the organization says may have been biased by their absence from
the household or their refusal to participate (UNAIDS release,
Jan. 13).