Condom use, not abstinence, cuts Uganda’s HIV rate

	Tweet

The declining prevalence of HIV infection in Uganda has often been attributed to increased rates of abstinence and monogamy, but new data suggest that the decline is primarily the result of increased condom use—as well the effect of people dying from AIDS.

Dr. Maria J. Wawer of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York and colleagues evaluated the impact of the “ABC” program on mortality over the last decade. The acronym stands for “abstinence,” “be faithful,” and use “condoms.”

Wawer’s team added “D” (HIV-related deaths) and “E” (viral epidemiology/early infection) to the analysis.

The researchers have followed 44 communities continuously over the past decade in the Rakai district in southwestern Uganda. Over 85 percent of all adults participated and each year the surveys included data for about 10,000 adults, Wawer reported at the 12th Annual Retroviral Conference on Wednesday.

“As in the rest of Uganda, we have seen a significant decline in HIV prevalence over the last decade,” she said. Overall, HIV rates declined significantly among all adults, from 18 percent to 11 percent and in young adults, from 17 percent to 8 percent, but no significant changes were noted in adolescents.

“The single factor that appears to have the greatest impact on the downward trend in prevalence continues to be mortality,” Wawer said. Deaths removed about 70 more HIV-infected people from the population each year than were added via new infections.

In addition, “we have seen significant and very encouraging increases in condom use among adults and adolescents and among both males and females,” she said. “Condom use has particularly increased in casual relationships.” Those who use condoms regularly have about a 70 percent reduction in HIV acquisition.

More “discouragingly,” among young and old, the rate of multiple partners and multiple non-marital partners also increased over the decade. The rate of abstinence also declined among young people during this period.

RELATED STORIES:
Sex, Drugs Top Issues Parents Want Doctors to Discuss with Kids   Routine prenatal Toxoplasma screening urged in US   Parents’ watchful eye may delay teen sex   European Urology: Male factor infertility associated with comorbidities   Guide to Safer Sex [part 1]   Zambia ‘bans’ condoms in schools   Sildenafil - Brand name(s): Viagra   Cipro-resistant gonorrhea on the rise   Study links restless leg syndrome with erectile dysfunction in older men   Sex education taught by students is popular   Size-obsessed Thai men warned on penis injections   Study: Impotence sufferers want fast drug results

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]