Cross-country Association of Press Freedom and LGBT freedom with prevalence of persons living with HIV: implication for global strategy against HIV/AIDS.

Autor: Chen X; College of Public Health and Health Professions and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida USA., Elliott AL; College of Public Health and Health Professions and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida USA., Wang S; College of Public Health and Health Professions and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Global health research and policy [Glob Health Res Policy] 2018 Feb 09; Vol. 3, pp. 6. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Feb 09 (Print Publication: 2018).
DOI: 10.1186/s41256-018-0061-3
Abstrakt: Background: Human behaviors are affected by attitudes and beliefs, which in turn are shaped by higher-level values to which we have ascribed. In this study, we explore the relationship between two higher-level values, press freedom and LGBT freedom, and HIV infection with national data at the population level.
Methods: Data were the number of persons living with HIV (PLWH, n  = 35,468,911) for 148 countries during 2011-15, press freedom index (PFI) determined by the Reporters Without Borders, and LGBT freedom index (LGBT-FI) based on laws regulating same-sex relationships and expression. PLWH prevalence (1/1000), PFI and LGBT-FI were mapped first. Multiple regression was thus used to associate the logarithm of PLWH prevalence with PFI, LGBT-FI and PFI × LGBT-FI interaction, controlling for per capita GDP and weighted by population size.
Results: Global prevalence of PLWH during 2011-15 was 0.51 per 1000 population. The prevalence showed a geographic pattern moving from high at the south and west ends of the world map to low at the north and east. Both PFI and LGBT-FI were positively associated with PLWH prevalence with a negative interaction between the two.
Conclusions: More people are infected with HIV in countries with higher press freedom and higher LGBT freedom. Furthermore, press freedom can attenuate the positive association between levels of LGBT freedom and risk of HIV infection. This study demonstrated the urgency for and provided data supporting further research to investigate potential cultural and socioecological mechanisms underpinning the complex relationship among press freedom, LGBT freedom and HIV infection, with data collected at the individual level.
Competing Interests: Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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