Increased Condom Use, Less Casual Sex Among Youth Reduce Spread Of HIV In Zimbabwe

Spread Of HIV In Zimbabwe

A "generational shift" toward less casual sex and increased condom useamong young people in Zimbabwe is helping to reduce the spread of HIVin the country, researchers have said recently, the McClatchy/Miami Herald reports (Bengali, McClatchy/Miami Herald, 8/12).

About3,000 Zimbabweans die weekly from AIDS-related illnesses, and one infour children in the country has lost one or both parents to thedisease, according to UNICEF.About one in five Zimbabwean adults is living with HIV, but recentsurveys show that HIV cases have decreased in recent years. The mostrecent nationwide survey, which was conducted in 2005 and 2006,estimated the country's adult HIV prevalence at 18.1%. Researchers saythat the prevalence peaked a few years earlier at 25% (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/16).

Expertssay that fewer Zimbabweans are contracting HIV as a result of a "nearuniversal awareness" of HIV/AIDS and the risks of unsafe sex, the McClatchy/Herald reports. Epidemiologists from Imperial College Londonlast year found a significant decrease in the number of sexual partnersamong men in the eastern countryside of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. They alsofound that fewer teenage boys and girls had become sexually active. Inaddition, some experts have suggested that an economic declinein the country has changed the sexual habits of some men, which mightbe contributing to the decreasing number of HIV cases recorded in thecountry.

Richard Chimbiri -- who writes about HIV for the Financial Gazette,an independent weekly newspaper -- said, "Some guys would have four orfive girlfriends if they could. But the economic situation and the riskof HIV -- it's all conspiring to make people change their attitudes."

However, much of the decrease in recorded HIV cases is because of the large number of AIDS-related deaths in the country, the McClatchy/Heraldreports. Antiretroviral drugs often are unavailable or unaffordable,and many HIV-positive people have left the country because of itseconomic situation (McClatchy/Miami Herald, 8/12).

Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view theentire Kaiser DailyHIV/AIDS Report, search the archives, and sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . TheKaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service ofThe Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.