Some good news, at last, about HIV and AIDS. A recent press release from UNAIDS (and see the Reuters summary here) said that HIV prevalence among young people has declined by more than 25% in 15 of the 21 countries most affected by AIDS. This is because the number of new HIV infections among young people has declined significantly.
In eight countries—Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe—significant HIV prevalence declines have been accompanied by positive changes in sexual behaviour among young people.
For example, in Kenya there was a 60% decline in HIV prevalence between 2000 and 2005. HIV prevalence dropped from 14.2% to 5.4% in urban areas and from 9.2% to 3.6% in rural areas in the same period. Similarly in Ethiopia there was a 47% reduction in HIV prevalence among pregnant young women in urban areas and a 29% change in rural areas.
What’s striking is that the first two factors cited as playing a part in this reduction are (i) waiting longer before young people first have sex and (ii) reducing the number of sexual partners.
Young people in 13 countries, including Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Malawi, are waiting longer before they become sexually active. Young people were also having fewer multiple partners in 13 countries. And condom use by young people during last sex act increased in 13 countries.
Yes, condoms are mentioned. But the report recognises that significant changes have come about in part through a transformation of patterns of sexual behaviour among young people. This is UNAIDS reporting, not the Vatican Press Office. And it’s a reflection of what’s working not just in one or two statistically insignificant areas but in two thirds of those countries most affected by AIDS today.
It’s interesting that the person who uploaded this image to Flickr in May 2006 did so in order to criticise abstinence campaigns because of their illiberal suggestion that people might want to rethink their patterns of sexual behaviour. This is part of the image caption:
AIDS campaigns funded by churches and/or the US government tend to emphasize abstinence and fidelity to one’s spouse instead of describing options available to persons who choose to have sex outside of marriage.
I think this is wonderful news. It makes me so sad to think that infidelity and poverty can ruin so many innocent lives. Isn’t it a good feeling seeing how responsible young people can be, and what a preserving sense of self worth they can have with the correct education. I hope it continues to improve and pray that people do not become complacent.
As a health worker, I can only say that this is a wonderful result. After all, noone can argue with statistics, can they? What worries me is how such a message would be It is also good that this positive message is recieved in a so on a site like this which is run by a Priest. Perhaps the hierarchy of the Church could learn an awful lot from this message and the way it is propagated. Rather than pointing out the negatives of certain behaviours, it points out the positives of abstinence from those behaviours. It is still, essentially saying “Thou shalt not” but shows the gains from the ‘not’.
What does worry me is how such a message would be recieved by most people in our so called ‘liberal’ society such as ours where anything goes.
I also have concerns for those who, for whatever reason, elect to ignore this message and, if they abide by the Church’s rules, leave themselves wide open to a plethora of diseases.
Very nicely put. I just got back from Kenya yesterday and I have to say that, overwhelmingly, the constant advertisement of condoms on TV comes across as a population reduction strategy, not a hiv reduction strategy.