Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Willingness to Participate in HIV Vaccine trials among urban residents of Bamako, Mali, in West Africa
Karamoko Tounkara1, Yssouf Kone2, Ben Aboubacar1, Ousmane Koita1, Sankare Moussa3,
Dolo Ibrahima3, Siby Fanta3, and Anne S. De Groot4
1Fondation GAIA Mali, 2CSCOM de Sikoro and 3Direction Regionale de la Santé, Bamako, Mali
and 4GAIA Vaccine Foundation, Providence RI
Introduction The objective of this study was to evaluate baseline levels of HIV knowledge and practices prior to a more extensive intervention, and to evaluate willingness to participate in an HIV vaccination trial among residents of the periurban slum of Sikoro, located within the city limits of Bamako, Mali, where the GAIA Vaccine Foundation has established an HIV care center.
Methods A random sample of 200 households from six sectors of Sikoro was selected to participate in an oral survey. Over a two-month period, trained interviewers of matched age and gender surveyed members of these households who gave their oral consent and recorded their knowledge of HIV, HIV transmission, and HIV prevention on a standardized form. The participants’ history of previous vaccination and willingness to participate in trials of vaccines was also assessed. The survey was voluntary, confidential and anonymity was maintained.
Results: 399 residents of Sikoro who were between 15 and 50 years old agreed to participate in the survey, of which 186 (47%) were women and 213 (53%) were men. 95% of the participants had heard about HIV and HIV infection, 93% knew at least one mode of transmission; 91% knew at least one means of preventing HIV tranmission; 72% knew where to get tested; 78% knew how to be tested; 85% were aware that the government of Mali provides HIV treatment for free; 54% knew where treatment was available. Among HIV prevention methods, 87% mentioned condoms; 60% mentioned fidelity; 50% mentioned abstinence. 73% felt “pity” towards people living with HIV and felt that HIV seropositive persons should not be excluded from activities of daily living. Participants were also relatively well informed about causes of sexually transmitted infections (STIs); 65% identified gonococci as a cause of STIs, 41% mentioned “yeast” infection, 25% mentioned syphilis and leucorrhea but 18% refused to talk about STIs. 94% of participants said they had been vaccinated at least once, and contrasting with our previous results , , more participants (78%) indicated that they would be willing to participate in a trial of an HIV vaccine (WTP), whereas 65% would participate in a trial of a malaria vaccine and 61% would participate in a trial of a TB vaccine. Women were slightly more likely to say that they would participate in a trial: 80% would, compared to 76% of men.
Conclusions: HIV knowledge is high, except for knowledge about MTCT, and there was a high level of willingness to participate in vaccine trials, among men and women participating in this survey. This is the third study performed by GAIA Vaccine Foundation to date that indicates a high level of WTP among residents of the capital of Mali, in West Africa.
Key words: HIV/AIDS/STI Prevention, Vaccination, Agreement to test a new vaccine.