Program Supplement [International Conference on AIDS (14th: 2002: Barcelona, Spain)]

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sex as a result. Only strict randomisation will ensure that such
men are equally distributed between the intervention and
placebo groups.
Corresponding author: Bolding, Graham, City University,
St Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery, 20
Bartholomew Close, London ECiA 7QN, United Kingdom,
Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone],
Email: [email protected]
[LBPEC90321
Epidemiological surveillance of HIV/AIDS in Algeria,
North Africa Based on the sentinel sero-surveillance survey
Fares, EI-Ghalia Mokhtari, L (Algeria)
Introduction The man objective of this work is to measure and
follow up the trends of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to monitor
the progress of the prevalence rates among selected groups.
Material and methods The selected groups that have been
studied were the STI's patients as high-risk group, the sex
workers as very high-risk group and pregnant women as low
risk group. The protocol used for the studies is the one
recommended by WHO based on the principle of the
anonymous and not correlated HIV screening.
Results 2916 persons have been tested from March 15th to
June 15th 2000 of which 1984 Pregnant women, 793 STI's
patients and 139 Sex workers. o4 among the five national
health regions have been included in the sero- surveillance
survey.
Conclusion For Algiers, Tizi ouzou and Oran, in the pregnant
women group o HIV+, this confirms to us the HIV didn't spread
yet in the general population. Tamanrasset could bee identified
as a potential risk region because o4 Algerian women among
455 were HIV+ (Prevalence rate nearly 1%). This might suggest
that the HIV has already began for this region spreading in the
general population Besides this we have among the 22 sex
workers screened in Tamanrasset for HIV, 02 were positive. We
can suppose that in Algeria the core groups from which the HIV
is spreading are the sex workers and groups of mobile
population that require sex workers services. In the view of
some of the social, cultural and economical determinants in
Algeria, we can fear the explosion of centers of dissemination
of the HIV epidemic if the appropriate preventive means are
not implemented very quickly. These surveys are still important
to realize in order to get an overview of the importance of the
issue and the trends of the HIV epidemic at a punctual time. IT
is though very important to settle a surveillance system which
precise the trends on the basis of the incidence rates.
Corresponding author: Fares, EI-Ghalia, Mustapha Hospital,
Alger, Algeria, Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone],
Email: [email protected]
[LBPEC90331
Impact of highly active antiretrovirai therapy
on the quality of life of injection drug users
Wu, Albert, Safaeian, Mahboobeh, Shah, Nina, Strathdee,
Steffanie, V/ahov, David, Celentano, David (United States)
Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can
effectively suppress HIV replication, however it can also reduce
quality of life (QOL). There is little data on the impact of HAART
on QOL of injection drug users (IDUs). The objective of this
study was to compare the QOL of HIV positive IDUs on HAART
with HIV positive IDUs eligible for HAART but not receiving
treatment, and HIV negative IDUs.

Methods: IDUs participating in a prospective cohort study (the
ALIVE study) in Baltimore, MD, were administered semi-annual
questionnaires. Beginning in 1999, QOL was assessed using
the MOS-HIV Health Survey, a brief, comprehensive
questionnaire with established reliability and validity that
measures health-related quality of life. Summary scores for
physical (PHS) and mental (MHS) health were generated on a
o-1oo scale, where a higher score indicates better health.
Student t-tests and generalized linear models were used for
statistical comparisons.
Results: Between September 1999 to June 2001, 1034 IDUs
were administered the QOL questionnaire, 33% were female,
6% had AIDS. Patient groups included i) HIV+ on HAART
(n=24o), 2) HIV+, HAART eligible (CD4<350) but not on HAART
(n=9o), 3) HIV+, CD4>35o not on HAART (n=44), and 4) HIV
negative (n=658). QOL scores are shown in the table. Patients
on HAART and HAART eligible patients had significantly lower
PHS and MHS scores compared to non-eligible patients and
HIV negative individuals. There were no significant differences
between those on HAART and eligible patients on lesser or no
therapy.
Dimension

1. HIV+, 2. HIV+, 3. HIV+,
HAART CD4<350 CD4>350

4. HIV
PHS
MHS

45-9 47.7 52.1 51.3
49.1 49.o 52.9 52.5

tp<o.oool for groups 1 and 2 vs groups 3 and 4.
Conclusions: In this cohort of injection drug users, QOL scores
were significantly higher for both HIV infected participants
with higher CD4 counts and HIV negative individuals,
compared to those with more advanced disease, or on HAART.
HAART did not appear to diminish QOL in IDUs.
Corresponding author: Wu, Albert, Johns Hopkins University,
624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States,
Tel: [phone], Fax: +1(425)74o-1650,
Email: [email protected]
[LBPEC90341
First suggestion of a decline in HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe
Kububa, Perpetua, Dube, L, Midzi, S.M., Nesara, P, St. Louis,
M.E. (Zimbabwe)
Background: Zimbabwe has experienced a severe generalized
HIV epidemic, and the aggregate HIV prevalence in HIV
surveillance in antenatal care centers (ANC) in 2000 was 35%.
Methods: To monitor progress in response to the epidemic,
ANC surveillance was repeated in 2001 in 19 designated HIV
sentinel sites. Up to 500 consecutive leftover blood specimens
from women tested for syphilis at first booking for pregnancy
were tested for HIV in an anonymous, unlinked fashion. ANC
sites included rural, urban, commercial farming, mining and
border sites. Testing for HIV antibody was by the BioRad
Genscreen 1-2 Kit. Data were analysed using Epiinfo 2oo000 and
SAS.
Results: 6790 specimens were available; 60% were from
women.
Conclusions: These data represent the first suggestion of any
decline in HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe, although the absolute
magnitude of the difference observed between 2oo000 and 2001
appears too large to be attributed to a true decline. Even
though the suggested trend urgently needs to be confirmed,
the greater proportionate changes in HIV prevalence in the
younger age groups is consistent with onset of a true decline.
XIV International AIDS Conference BARCELONA - JULY 7-12

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