Willingness to Participate in HIV Vaccine Trials Among Young Nale Nigerian Traders

Background

Plans are in the pipeline to commence field trials to determine the efficacy of HIV vaccines amongst the Nigerian populace. This study was conducted to assess the willingness to participate as subjects in HIV vaccine trials among young male traders in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Materials and methods

Self administered questionnaires were completed by 247 respondents with age ranging from 13 to 29 years. The questions were in Pidgin English which is an adulterated form of English language widely spoken among the respondents. SPSS version 10 data editor was used to analyze data. Univariate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95 % CI) were used to evaluate the correlates of willingness to participate (WTP) in vaccine trials.

Results

35% of the respondents reported that they will be willing to join HIV vaccine trials. Greater willingness was associated with prior sexual experience (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.12–1.53), involvement in high risk sexual behaviour (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.05–1.62), higher levels of awareness about HIV/AIDS (OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.14–1.45) and tangible incentives (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.02–1.42). Decreased WTP was associated with concerns about physical harm (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.21–0.54), social stigmatization (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.42–0.68), use of parenteral route for vaccine administration (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.53–0.76) and multiple doses of vaccines (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.46–0.63).

Conclusion

The level of WTP recorded indicates that much work still needs to be done in the area of educating potential subjects in HIV vaccine trials about the safety of these vaccines. Incentives for would-be subjects should also be a part of the planning to encourage greater participation in these trials.