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. 2023 Jun 22;3(6):e0000544.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000544. eCollection 2023.

HIV research output in African Countries between 1986-2020

Mukhtar A Ijaiya  1 , Adebanjo Olowu  1 , Habibat A Oguntade  2 , Seun Anjorin  3 , Olalekan A Uthman  3
Affiliations

HIV research output in African Countries between 1986-2020

Mukhtar A Ijaiya et al. PLOS Glob Public Health. .

Abstract

HIV literature has grown exponentially since it was named the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Bibliometric analysis is a practical approach for quantitatively and qualitatively assessing scientific research. This work aims to describe HIV research output in Africa by country from 1986 until 2020. We conducted a search of the PubMed database in June 2021 for a 35-year period spanning 1986 to 2020. We comparatively weighed for countries' populations, gross domestic product (GDP), and the number of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) by calculating the ratio of the number of publications from each country. We used Poisson regression models to explore the trends in countries' HIV research output over the study period. The Pearson correlation analysis assessed the association between research output, population size, GDP, and the number of PLHIV.A total of 83,527 articles from African countries on HIV indexed in PubMed were included for analysis. Republic of South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria account for 54% of the total indexed publications with 33.2% (26,907); 8.4% (7,045); 7.3% (6,118); and 5.1% (4,254), respectively. Africa's proportion of the world's total HIV publications increased from 5.1% in 1986 to 31.3% in 2020. There was a strong positive and statistically significant correlation between the total indexed HIV publications and countries' GDP (r = 0.59, P<0.01), population (r = 0.58, P<0.01), and the estimated number of PLHIV (r = 0.72, P<0.01). The study found that Africa's contribution to global HIV research output increased over the 35 years, but it remains relatively low compared to the continent's burden of HIV infections. Our findings also revealed major differences in research output across sub-regions in Africa, with the Republic of South Africa having the highest output. The factors associated with HIV research output were economic strength, disease epidemiology, and population size.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Africa’s annual percent share of global HIV research output, 1986–2020.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Sub-regional HIV research output trend in Africa, 1986–2020.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Color-coded Africa map representing the total number of publications per country by quintiles (https://github.com/nasa/World-Wind-Java/tree/master/WorldWind/testData/shapefiles; https://github.com/nasa/World-Wind-Java/blob/7c9886ab67ac03d53bdb04f161b9605d3f3dd810/WorldWind/NASA_Open_Source_Agreement_1.3.txt).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Relative rank of countries in HIV research productivity in Africa, 1986–2020.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Association between total HIV publications and the population of each African country.
AGO: Angola; BDI: Burundi; BEN: Benin; BFA: Burkina Faso; BWA: Botswana; CAF: Central African Republic; CIV: Cote d’Ivoire; CMR: Cameroon; COD: Democratic Republic of the Congo; COG: Congo; COM: Comoros; CPV: Cape Verde; DJI: Djibouti; DZA: Algeria; EGY: Egypt; ERI: Eritrea; ESH: Western Sahara; ETH: Ethiopia; GAB: Gabon; GHA: Ghana; GIN: Guinea; GMB: Gambia; GNB: Guinea-Bissau; GNQ: Equatorial Guinea; KEN: Kenya; LBR: Liberia; LBY: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; LSO: Lesotho; MAR: Morocco; MDG: Madagascar; MLI: Mali; MOZ: Mozambique; MRT: Mauritania; MUS: Mauritius; MWI: Malawi; MYT: Mayotte; NAM: Namibia; NER: Niger; NGA: Nigeria; REU: Reunion; RWA: Rwanda; SDN: Sudan; SEN: Senegal; SHN: Saint Helena; SLE: Sierra Leone; SOM: Somalia; STP: Sao Tome and Principe; SWZ: Swaziland; SYC: Seychelles; TCD: Chad; TGO: Togo; TUN: Tunisia; TZA: United Republic of Tanzania; UGA: Uganda; ZAF: South Africa; ZMB: Zambia; ZWE: Zimbabwe.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Association between total HIV publications and the PLHIV population of each African country.
AGO: Angola; BDI: Burundi; BEN: Benin; BFA: Burkina Faso; BWA: Botswana; CAF: Central African Republic; CIV: Cote d’Ivoire; CMR: Cameroon; COD: Democratic Republic of the Congo; COG: Congo; COM: Comoros; CPV: Cape Verde; DJI: Djibouti; DZA: Algeria; EGY: Egypt; ERI: Eritrea; ESH: Western Sahara; ETH: Ethiopia; GAB: Gabon; GHA: Ghana; GIN: Guinea; GMB: Gambia; GNB: Guinea-Bissau; GNQ: Equatorial Guinea; KEN: Kenya; LBR: Liberia; LBY: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; LSO: Lesotho; MAR: Morocco; MDG: Madagascar; MLI: Mali; MOZ: Mozambique; MRT: Mauritania; MUS: Mauritius; MWI: Malawi; MYT: Mayotte; NAM: Namibia; NER: Niger; NGA: Nigeria; REU: Reunion; RWA: Rwanda; SDN: Sudan; SEN: Senegal; SHN: Saint Helena; SLE: Sierra Leone; SOM: Somalia; STP: Sao Tome and Principe; SWZ: Swaziland; SYC: Seychelles; TCD: Chad; TGO: Togo; TUN: Tunisia; TZA: United Republic of Tanzania; UGA: Uganda; ZAF: South Africa; ZMB: Zambia; ZWE: Zimbabwe.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Association between total HIV publications and the GDP of each African country.
AGO: Angola; BDI: Burundi; BEN: Benin; BFA: Burkina Faso; BWA: Botswana; CAF: Central African Republic; CIV: Cote d’Ivoire; CMR: Cameroon; COD: Democratic Republic of the Congo; COG: Congo; COM: Comoros; CPV: Cape Verde; DJI: Djibouti; DZA: Algeria; EGY: Egypt; ERI: Eritrea; ESH: Western Sahara; ETH: Ethiopia; GAB: Gabon; GHA: Ghana; GIN: Guinea; GMB: Gambia; GNB: Guinea-Bissau; GNQ: Equatorial Guinea; KEN: Kenya; LBR: Liberia; LBY: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; LSO: Lesotho; MAR: Morocco; MDG: Madagascar; MLI: Mali; MOZ: Mozambique; MRT: Mauritania; MUS: Mauritius; MWI: Malawi; MYT: Mayotte; NAM: Namibia; NER: Niger; NGA: Nigeria; REU: Reunion; RWA: Rwanda; SDN: Sudan; SEN: Senegal; SHN: Saint Helena; SLE: Sierra Leone; SOM: Somalia; STP: Sao Tome and Principe; SWZ: Swaziland; SYC: Seychelles; TCD: Chad; TGO: Togo; TUN: Tunisia; TZA: United Republic of Tanzania; UGA: Uganda; ZAF: South Africa; ZMB: Zambia; ZWE: Zimbabwe.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Top 10 most productive countries and the annual number of publications per 1,000,000 population, 1986–2020.
Fig 9
Fig 9. Top 10 most productive countries and the annual number of publications per 1,000 PLHIV population, 1986–2020.
Fig 10
Fig 10. Top 10 most productive countries and the annual number of publications per US$1 billion GDP, 1986–2020.
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