researchafrica.rti.org: Sub-Saharan Africa

Gabon

HIV prevalence 15-49, 2007/2008 5.9%

Tuberculosis death rate 55/100,000 population

Malaria death rate (children under 5) 470/100,000 population

Gabon is located on the west coast of Africa. Its small population of 1.2 million is the wealthiest in sub-Saharan Africa, with per capita income exceeding $3,000 annually, but wealth distribution is very uneven. Gabon has profited from oil and other natural resources (it is sub-Saharan Africa's third largest exporter of oil) and extensive foreign investment. The economy is heavily dependent on oil exports and subject to fluctuations in the price of oil.

The country has been politically stable since independence from France in 1960. Omar Bongo has been President of Gabon since 1967.

Poor HIV surveillance makes it very difficult to estimate prevalence in Gabon with any accuracy, but HIV infection rates for Gabon appear to be at 5-6 percent and rising. The most recent French Red Cross estimate in 2003 is 6 percent for the entire nation. UNAIDS has not issued a recent estimate for Gabon due to inability to obtain antenatal clinic data after 1995, when antenatal clinics in the capital reported 4 percent HIV infection.

Malaria is endemic throughout Gabon, and the malaria death rate for children ages 0-4 is 470 per 100,000. Over the last several years there have been a number of highly publicized ebola outbreaks in Gabon, but the numbers of people affected by ebola have always been relatively small. A larger health problem is tuberculosis; Gabon's Ministry of Health estimates that 3,500 Gabonese are treated for TB each year. UN officials are concerned that the incidence of TB may double in the next decade.

Sources: IRIN, 17 February 2004, CIA World Factbook, United Nations Statistics Division, MBendi, Energy Information Administration (US), Aegis, WHO HIV report

Gabon is one of 13 nations taking part in the UNAIDS Accelerating Access Initiative (AAI), allowing it to purchase HIV/AIDS drugs from pharmaceutical companies at reduced prices. A national strategic framework for addressing AIDS is still under development.

Source: UNAIDS

Total population. mid-2009	1.5 (millions)
HIV prevalence 15-49, 2007/2008	5.9%
Tuberculosis death rate	55/100,000 population
Prevalence of tuberculosis per 100,000 population, 2000	429
Prevalence of tuberculosis per 100,000 population, 2004	339
% Tuberculosis detection rate under DOTS, 2001	91
% Tuberculosis detection rate under DOTS, 2004	82
% Tuberculosis treatment success rate under DOTS, 2003	35
Malaria death rate (children under 5)	470/100,000 population
GNI PPP Per Capita, 2008	12,270 (US$)
Life expectancy at birth	59 years
Infant mortality rate	55/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate	3.6 per woman
Crude birth rate	28/1,000 population
Crude death rate	10/1,000 population
Adult male literacy level	80% (pct. 15+ literate)
Adult female literacy level	62% (pct. 15+ literate)
Contraceptive prevalence rate, modern methods	12% of women in union
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults and Children, 2005	60,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults and children, end 2003	48,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults and children, end 2001	39,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults (15+), 2005	56,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults (15-49), end 2003	45,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults (15-49), end 2001	37,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults (15-49) rate (%), 2005	8.1%
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Adults (15-49) rate (%), 2003	6.9%
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Women (15+), 2005	33,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Women 15-49, end 2003	26,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Women 15-49, end 2001	21,000
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Children (0-14), 2005	3,900
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Children (0-14), end 2003	2,500
Estimated number of people living with HIV: Children (0-14), end 2001	2,000
Estimated number of AIDS deaths: Adults and children, 2005	4,700
AIDS deaths in adults and children, end 2003	3,000
AIDS deaths in adults and children, end 2001	2,200
Estimated number of orphans due to AIDS: Children (0-17), 2005	20,000
Orphans due to AIDS (0-17), living 2003	14,000
Orphans due to AIDS (0-17), living 2001	10,000

Demographic data contained in this section was obtained from the following sources: The Population Reference Bureau’s 2009 World Population Data Sheet was used for total population, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, fertility, birth rate, death rate, % of married women 15-49 using modern methods of contraception, % of population 15-49 with HIV/AIDS in 2007/2008, and the GNI PPP per capita (2008). Literacy rates were found in the Population Reference Bureau’s publication 2005 Women of Our World. HIV prevalence data for 2001 and 2003 was obtained from the UNAIDS Barcelona 2002 report; HIV prevalence and orphan data for 2005 was obtained from the UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2006. Data on the % women who have discussed AIDS prevention with their husband or partner can be found in ORC Macro and USAID’s Women’s Lives and Experiences: Changes in the Past Ten Years (Research Findings from the Demographic and Health Surveys). Childhood malaria mortality data was accessed in 2003 from the United Nations Statistics Divisions’ Millennium Indicators. Tuberculosis data was obtained from the United Nations Statistics Division’s Millennium Indicators: MDGInfo 2006. In some cases information was unavailable.

Per capita health expenditure in Gabon, at $181 (PPP) annually, is very high for sub-Saharan Africa. The distribution of medical care is uneven, however, and the half of the population living below the poverty line often receives sub-standard care.

Gabon has 27 hospitals and 660 medical centers. Two of the most prominent hospitals in Gabon are the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambarene and the 630 bed Libreville General Hospital in the capital.

Sources: Aegis, WHO

International Center for Medical Research (CIRMF)

CIRMF is pursuing studies of HIVs and SIVs in primates. These studies are conducted in collaboration with the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Pasteur Institute, and Hopital Bichat in Paris. NIH and ANRS have provided $668,000 in funding for this HIV/AIDS research.

In 2003 CIRMF researchers published results of a study of asymptomatic malaria in Gabonese children in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Source: AJTMH abstract.

CIRMF's facilities are classified as one of two Bio-Safety Level 4 (BSL-4) level high-containment infectious-disease laboratories in Africa. The other is at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Medical Research Unit

The Medical Research Unit at Albert Schweitzer Hospital has current research projects involving malarial immunities and chemotherapy treatments for malaria. The Medical Research Unit is a research partner of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Tubingen University, Germany, and through Peter Kremsner has a strong connection with Michigan State University in the United States. Dr. Kremsner is the Scientific Director at the Medical Research Unit. The work at the hospital is supported by the International Albert Schweitzer Foundation.

The Medical Research Unit hosts one of five Severe Malaria in African Children (SMAC) sites in Africa. The SMAC sites form a clinical trials network on the front-line of anti-malarial research. An NIH grant directed by Dr. Kremsner is supporting part of the SMAC research in Gabon.

Universite Omar Bongo, Faculte de Medicine et des Sciences de la Sante (FMSS)

Gabon has not been a major recipient of Western aid, perhaps because of its relative wealth. Much of the aid it has received (e.g., from Germany) has been directed at environmental and biodiversity protection projects, rather than improving the health infrastructure.

No information available

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