In a country with the highest HIV infection rate in the world and the lowest life expectancy, experts are still at a loss as to why Swazis have resisted all attempts to change the behaviors that put them at risk from the virus.
The ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, Condomise) approach has guided Swaziland’s HIV prevention efforts for years, but has dismally failed to slow the spread of the virus.
“If you look at the increase of HIV in the country while we’ve been applying the ABC concept all these years, then it is evident that ABC is not the answer,” said Dr Derek von Wissell, Director of the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA).
Von Wissell has called for new approaches and is hoping to get some answers from a countrywide study looking into Swazis’ sexual behavior being undertaken with the assistance of the World Bank.
Results from the study may reveal what motivates sexual risk-taking, and suggest ways to curtail it. “Ultimately, behavior is what has to change … because … commitment to relationships is very low – we need to look at the nature of relationships,” he told IRIN/PlusNews.
Only about 30 percent of sexually active men aged 15 to 49 are in committed relationships, according to statistics quoted by von Wissell. The remaining 70 percent of men are “free agents”, to whom the Be Faithful component of the ABC approach does not apply.
Abstinence – the A in the ABC approach – is still valued in Swazi society, but only up to a point. “Girls still talk of preserving virginity, but pressures are put on girls to engage in sex,” said von Wissell.
“Below 15 years of age, HIV prevalence is very low … But as girls grow it really gets active – in the 20 to 24 age group, HIV is 38 percent. Once you become sexually active, abstinence goes out the window.”
Read more of the story here at the IRIN news service:
SWAZILAND: ABC approach to be shelved
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