HIV prevalence in 72 000 urban and rural male army recruits, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: The recent estimate of around 2 million HIV-infected people in Ethiopia derives from data that are sparse, especially in the rural areas where the majority (> 85%) of the population lives. We assessed HIV prevalence in almost 72 000 army recruits who resided in urban and rural areas prior to recruitment. METHODS: Rapid HIV tests, HIVSPOT and Determine, were conducted on blood samples drawn at enrolment from almost 10 000 urban …