Mapping and size estimates of female sex workers in Cameroon: Toward informed policy for design and implementation in the national HIV program

• Published in: PloS one 2019-02, Vol.14 (2), p.e0212315-e0212315
• Main Authors: Billong, Serge C, Nguefack-Tsague, Georges, Fokam, Joseph, Emmanuel, Faran, Isac, Shajy, Fodjo, Raoul A T, Ngoufack, Marie Nicole, Kwedi, Sylvie, Moukam, Laure Vartan, Tchetmi, Thomas, Tapka, Vincent K, Ndjolo, Alexis, Shubber, Zara, Cheikh, Nejma, Blanchard, James, Elat, Jean-Bosco N, Mziray, Elizabeth N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adolescent; Adult; AIDS; Biology and Life Sciences; Cameroon - epidemiology; Cities; Cities and towns; Councils; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographic aspects; Disease control; Disease hot spots; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Diseases and pests; Drug resistance; Estimates; Female; Health Plan Implementation - legislation & jurisprudence; Health Policy; Health surveillance; HIV; HIV - isolation & purification; HIV infections; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - transmission; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Informers; Intelligence gathering; Male; Mapping; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Middle Aged; Nutrition; People and Places; Poisson density functions; Population; Prevalence; Prevention; Prostitutes; Prostitution; Public health; Regression models; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk factors; Sex; Sex industry; Sex oriented businesses; Sex Workers - statistics & numerical data; Sexual behavior; Sexual transmission; Sexually transmitted diseases; Statistical analysis; STD; Tropical diseases; Workers; Working groups; Working women; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212315

Due to high HIV prevalence among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Cameroon (36.5%), this population is especially vulnerable to HIV acquisition and transmission nationwide. Though being prioritized in the national HIV response, it would be relevant to generate statistics on the number of FSWs in order to guide HIV interventions among FSWs. Our objective was to estimate the size of FSWs within hotspots of Cameroon. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September-November 2015 in selected cities in Cameroon: Bafoussam, Bamenda, Bertoua, Buea, Douala, Kribi, Limbé, and Yaoundé. A programmatic mapping was used, consisting of interviews with secondary key informants (KI) to identify hotspots of FSWs and their respective estimated numbers. Validation of size estimates was done by interviews with FSW at each hotspot. Size estimations in the councils mapped were extended to others not mapped using a Poisson regression model. A total of 2,194 hotspots were identified: Douala (760), Yaoundé (622), Bamenda (263), Bafoussam (194), Kribi (154), Bertoua (140), Limbé (35), and Buea (26). The estimated total number (range) of FSWs was 21,124 (16,079-26,170), distributed per city as follows: Douala 7,557 (5,550-9,364), Yaoundé 6,596 (4,712-8,480), Bafoussam 2,458 (1,994-2,923), Bamenda 1,975 (1,605-2,345), Kribi 1,121 (832-1,408), Bertoua 1,044 (891-1,198), Buea 225 (185-266), and Limbé 148 (110-148). The variability of estimates among cities was also observed within the councils of each city. The national predicted estimate of FSW population was 112,580 (103,436-121,723), covering all councils of Cameroon. An estimate of 1.91% (112,580/5,881,526; 0.47%-3.36%) adult female population in Cameroon could be sex workers. There are considerable numbers of FSW in major cities in Cameroon. There is a need to prioritize interventions for HIV prevention toward this population in order to limit the burden of HIV sexual transmission nationwide.