Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and Mortality Rate Attributed to Unsafe Sex and Drug Use for AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa Countries

Abstract

Background: To reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS, it is important to identify and estimate the attributable burden of risk factors associated with HIV/AIDS. The present study aimed to estimate the attributable burden of unsafe sex and drug use in AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Methods: We used the data in Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 to estimate the attributable burden of unsafe sex and drug use in AIDS in the MENA (22 countries) from 1990 to 2017 by sex and age. We estimated the attributable mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for the mentioned risk factors.Results: The rate of DALYs/100,000 attributed to drug use for AIDS increased 1.10 (95% CI: 0.75-1.71) to 13.39 (95% CI: 9.98- 18.17) in women of MENA countries from 1990 to 2017, and there is an increasing trend in DALY attributable to drug use for AIDS in men. The rate of DALYs/100,000 attributed to unsafe sex for AIDS increased in women of MENA countries, 5.15 (95% CI: 3.34-8.07) to 53.44 (95% CI: 38.79-75.89); and 10.06 (95% CI: 6.61-16.18) to 46.16 (95% CI: 31.30-72.66) in men. Age-standardized mortality rate attributed to drug use and unsafe sex for AIDS increased from 1990 to 2017 in both sex in MENA.Conclusion: The rate of DALYs/100,000 and age-standardized mortality rate attributed to unsafe sex and drug use increased in MENA from 1990 to 2017. While most of such countries have traditional cultures with religious believes, such increase need to be addressed in more depth by all policy makers.