The campaign by the HIV/AIDS community promoting abstinence and correct and consistent condom use has seen some success, in encouraging condom usage at least, but not so much with abstinence.Whiteside argues that a national safe sex/no sex month could help reduce the spread of HIV by skipping the period immediately after an individual acquires the virus when they are most infectious.
But given the successes and failures of present campaigns, how effective would this be? We already know that negotiating condom usage is already difficult for women in heterosexual relationships. And with the acknowledged phenomenon of multiple concurrent sexual partnerships, it may be that if one partner is not sexually available there will be another who is. It is difficult to imagine a man with a mistress, a wife and a girlfriend abstaining from sex. But what about the practicalities for sex workers whose incomes depend on how often they have sex?
In the report Whiteside referred to religious communities such as Muslims and the Marange Apostolic Sect who were found to refrain from sex during Ramadan and Passover respectively. He acknowledges that converting to a religion is not a reasonable public health strategy, but argues that these insights raise the possibility of a campaign.
The problem with any campaign and particularly this one is community buy-in. For Southern Africans, avoiding the risk of HIV infection, as evidenced by some of the highest incidence and prevalence rates in the world, is not inducement enough. With advances in medicine, and increased availability of cheap generic drugs, HIV is no longer a death sentence. More than that, the issue of HIV incidence is compounded by social issues, which wont go away for a month.
Given all these issues, is it even practical to spend time and money campaigning for a safe sex/no sex month? Kubatana
Post published in: Opinions