BOSTON (CWN) Efforts to curb the Aids epidemic in Africa should concentrate on promoting sexual restraint, a team of Harvard researchers has concluded, after finding that condom-distribution campaigns have not significantly reduced the spread of the disease. “We need a fairly dramatic shift in priorities, not just a minor tweaking,” said Dr Daniel Halperin, who led the research team from the Harvard School of Public Health.
The group’s report in Science magazine found that male circumcision had a dramatic effect in curtailing the transfer of the HIV virus. But efforts to promote condom use did not affect the spread of Aids in Africa.
The Harvard study focused on 9 African countries where the Aids epidemic has been most devastating; in these countries more than 12 per cent of the adult population is HIV-positive.
The researchers found that programs designed to discourage sexual promiscuity had a strong positive impact in several countries. The most successful program was in Uganda, where a government-backed campaign produced a reported 50 per cent drop in the number of people reporting multiple sexual partners. Similar programs led to a reduction in the rate of HIV infection in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Ivory Coast as well.