Kaposi sarcoma incidence in Mozambique: national and regional estimates

Kaposi sarcoma is expressed in four clinical variants, all associated with human herpes virus type 8 infection, namely, classic, endemic, immunosuppression-related and AIDS-related. The latter currently accounts for most of the burden of Kaposi sarcoma in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting the frequency of HIV infection and its management. We aimed to estimate the incidence of Kaposi sarcoma in Mozambique and in its provinces. We estimated the number of incident cases of Kaposi sarcoma by adding up the expected number of endemic and AIDS-related cases. The former were estimated from the rates observed in Kyandondo, Uganda (1960-1971). The latter were computed from the number of AIDS-related deaths in each region, assuming that the ratio between the AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma incident cases and the number of AIDS-related deaths observed in the city of Beira applies to all regions. A total of 3862 Kaposi sarcoma cases were estimated to have occurred in Mozambique in 2007, mostly AIDS-related, in the age group 25-49 years, and in provinces from South/Centre. The age-standardized incidence rates were 36.1/100 000 in men and 11.5/100 000 in women, with a more than three-fold variation across provinces. We estimated a high incidence of Kaposi sarcoma in Mozambique, along with large regional differences. These results can be used to improve disease management and to sustain political decisions on health policies.