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korey chisholm [ Profil ] |
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Encouraging evidence of condom use from South Africa Article
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Jun 19th, 2009 - 09:40:59 |
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Thought I should share the article below with you all:
The World Today - HIV rates drop in young South Africans
[This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2594328.htm]
Reporter: Barbara Miller
PETER CAVE: In South Africa today a new study has found the HIV infection
rate has levelled off. The researchers found there'd been a big increase in
the percentage of young people aged 15 to 24 using condoms. They say they're
excited about the findings but caution that in some age groups the situation
remains dire, with one in three women between 25 and 29 infected.
BARBARA MILLER: Overall there's little to be excited about. More than five
million South Africans are HIV positive. But in the words of the Health
Minister Aaron Motsoaledi there's real light at the end of the tunnel.
A national study by the Human Sciences Research Council has found the
infection rate has levelled off at around 11 per cent. In the 2-14 age group
the rate has more than halved from 5.6 per cent in 2002 to 2.5 per cent last
year. There's also been a drop in infection rates in teenagers and young
adults.
Dr Olive Shisana is the study's lead author.
OLIVE SHISANA: What we attribute (this to), particularly the 15-19 year
olds, is the very high increase in condom use in this young population.
The figures have increased dramatically from 2002 to 2008, especially among
young males, as well as young females.
BARBARA MILLER: Would you describe your findings as good news?
OLIVE SHISANA: We're really excited about what it is we're finding, but we
also are aware of the fact that there are still major HIV problems. While we
are seeing a decrease in the younger population, we're seeing an increase in
the older population, and therefore we still need to redouble our efforts in
terms of dealing with this epidemic.
BARBARA MILLER: When you say redouble, what do you mean? Use more of the
same strategy, or do you think new strategies also need to be implemented?
OLIVE SHISANA: We need to be looking at new approaches. For example, we may
need to think about how we deal with the question of people who have
multiple sexual partners. How do we educate them to change the social norms?
We may have to adapt other strategies, such as have been used in the area of
anti-smoking campaigns, to see whether we are able to change the social
norms, and begin to say, 'It's not really cool to have multiple sexual
partners'.
BARBARA MILLER: Peter Fourie is a lecturer in Politics and International
Relations at Macquarie University who specialises in HIV/AIDS in South
Africa. He thinks above all political changes are behind the encouraging new
statistics.
PETER FOURIE: It seems to me based on two aspects.
The first one is availability of anti-retroviral drugs, which the Mbeki
administration previously and disastrously had opposed, which means that
people transfer the epidemic less, they get help sooner.
The other positive aspect flowing from that is people are more willing to
get tested. So there is now hope they can get access to this anti-AIDS
medication, and previously that was not the case.
BARBARA MILLER: Do you think HIV/AIDS has become destigmatised in South
Africa?
PETER FOURIE: No, it's not gone - the stigma isn't gone at all. I think if
you're travelling to provincial South Africa you will still be stoned to
death, as people were, even within this last decade, due to their
HIV-positive status.
So it depends on the way you go, but it certainly has become less
politicised, due to the departure of Mbeki and his absolutely disastrous
intervention in the debate around the virology of AIDS in South Africa.
BARBARA MILLER: While the overall trend is good, there are huge variations
in the rates of infection. In the poorer Kwa-Zulu Natal and Eastern Cape
provinces, the rates are much higher. And across the country a staggering
one in three women, aged 25 to 29, is HIV- positive. Young women with older
partners are particularly at risk.
OLIVE SHISANA: It's not easy for a young girl to have to convince the older
man that they must use condoms. Our data shows that the knowledge levels
among older people are not as high as they are among younger people.
BARBARA MILLER: One positive for these women is that the greater
availability of anti-retrovirals is helping reduce the rates of transmission
to their children.
© 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Best regards,
Korey Anthony Chisholm |Caribbean Regional Focal Point | Global Youth
Coalition on HIV and AIDS (GYCA) | 749 Sixth Field Cummings Lodge |Greater
Georgetown, Demerara |Guyana, South America T:+1 (592) 623 8022 or (592) 662
1441| O:+1 592 225 1580| korey (at) youthaidscoalition.org |
korey.chisholm (at) gmail.com www.iAIDS.org | www.youthaidscoalition.org
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Korey Anthony Chisholm | Partnerships and Communications Director |Board Of
Directors | The Newtwork of Guyanese Living with and Affected by HIV and
AIDS (G+) Incorporated | gpluspublic (at) gmail.com | gplusnetwork (at) gmail.com
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