Searching for HIV and AIDS Health Information in South Africa, 2004-2019: Analysis of Google and Wikipedia Search Trends.

ABSTRACT:

Background

AIDS, caused by HIV, is a leading cause of mortality in Africa. HIV/AIDS is among the greatest public health challenges confronting health authorities, with South Africa having the greatest prevalence of the disease in the world. There is little research into how Africans meet their health information needs on HIV/AIDS online, and this research gap impacts programming and educational responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Objective

This paper reports on how, in general, interest in the search terms "HIV" and "AIDS" mirrors the increase in people living with HIV and the decline in AIDS cases in South Africa.

Methods

Data on search trends for HIV and AIDS for South Africa were found using the search terms "HIV" and "AIDS" (categories: health, web search) on Goog

SUBMITTER: Okunoye B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8956998 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature