HIV/AIDS- Promiscuity shoots up spread
Jan 11, 2009
JOHN 35, is married with four children. He has spent much of his life as a businessman in Kichwammango in Rakai district. Because of his social position in this village, he has been nick-named ‘Uncle Money’, going by the way he dishes out money to wom
By Joseph KB Matovu
JOHN 35, is married with four children. He has spent much of his life as a businessman in Kichwammango in Rakai district. Because of his social position in this village, he has been nick-named ‘Uncle Money’, going by the way he dishes out money to women.
Village mates believe he has a wife in every neighbouring village and there is talk that he can sleep with any woman he likes. John does not deny all this.
Many men and women continue to have multiple sexual partners without any concern that they might acquire or even transmit HIV in the process.
Studies show that having sex with more than one partner increases the risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV to other partners.
The fact that sex with multiple sexual partners is listed as a risk factor for HIV infection is not surprising. If two people engaged in sex with different people, the total number in this ‘sex network’ would be four.
And, assuming each of these four once again engaged in sex with one other person, the number of partners in the network would increase to eight.
As the number of sexual partners in the network increases so does the risk of having sex with an infected partner. This, coupled with limited condom use, increases the risk of HIV infection.
Interestingly, many Ugandans are already aware of the need to limit the number of sexual partners. Surprisingly though, many people continue to have multiple sexual partners.
Uganda had registered significant declines in multiple sexual partnerships and these declines were believed to have been responsible for the decline in the percentage of people infected with HIV from an average of 18% in 1992 to about 6% by 2000.
As a matter of fact, the percentage of men with two or more partners reduced from 15% to 3% between 1986 and 1991.
This reduction was consistent with the early HIV prevention messages that called upon individuals and couples to “stick to one partner†and “love faithfullyâ€. This momentum seems to have been lost along the way, between 2001 and 2005 as already reported.
A focus group discussion was conducted in Rakai district to assess people’s perceptions about limiting the number of sexual partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Edward, 32, one of the participants said: “If you test my blood for two or three times and tell me that I am HIV-negative when I have four sexual partners, I don’t see any reason why I should leave them. I just know that they are also HIV-negative.â€
Edward’s perception of his own risk for HIV infection is at its lowest ebb, and he is determined to continue engaging in multiple sexual partnerships with the mistaken belief that he is safe from HIV infection. Edward is not alone.
There are many other people out there who think and behave in much the same way. When people test for HIV more than once and are found to be HIV negative, they tend to believe that they are either “lucky in choosing HIV-free partners†or that they cannot be infected with HIV.
HIV counsellors and other HIV/AIDS health workers need to continue to emphasise the need for safer sex practices among repeat testers, irrespective of how many times they have tested HIV-negative.
What is making HIV prevention even more challenging is the belief among some people that HIV/AIDS is no longer as serious a health threat as it used to be, especially with the availability of HIV treatment drugs known as antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.
James Kigozi, the communications officer for the Uganda AIDS Commission, has been quoted in the press as saying: “people no longer look at HIV/AIDS as an immediate threat. The era of ARVs has made people complacent.
That is why recent findings are showing doubling infection rates, a shift in trends and negative behaviour patterns.â€
According to Joan, 24, one of those interviewed during a focus group: “Some people say that HIV/AIDS has become more of a ‘malaria-like’ infection, something they have become used to, rather than a deadly infection.â€
Research commissioned by the Ministry of Health estimates that Uganda’s HIV prevalence in the general population has stabilised between 6.1 -6.5% since 2000, and there are fears that this percentage could increase unless new strategies and messages are devised to control the epidemic.
The writer works with the School of Public Health, Makerere University
What Research says
A study by the Uganda AIDS Commission shows that people with multiple sexual partners contribute up to 46% of recent infections in Uganda. Married people contribute 43% of the infections.
A study by A. Opio and colleagues from the Ministry of Health, suggests that up to 90% of both men and women knew that having sex with only one partner who is not infected with HIV and who has no other partners reduces the risk of HIV infection.
The percentage of people engaging in sex with multiple partners increased from 2% to 4% in women and from 24% to 29% in men between 2001 and 2005.
In a study of HIV-negative repeat testers in Rakai district in 2007, Matovu and colleagues found that the percentage of HIV-negative repeat testers, (18%), who had multiple sexual partnerships was greater than the 15% of the respondents who had multiple partners and had never tested for HIV.
L. Atuyambe and colleagues of Makerere University School of Public Health in their study to assess how the increased availability of antiretroviral drugs would affect people’s sexual risk behaviours, report that people take AIDS as a cough which can be cured because of the availability of ARVs. Even if one is infected, he/she can swallow ARVs and have a healthy long life.
JOHN 35, is married with four children. He has spent much of his life as a businessman in Kichwammango in Rakai district. Because of his social position in this village, he has been nick-named ‘Uncle Money’, going by the way he dishes out money to women.
Village mates believe he has a wife in every neighbouring village and there is talk that he can sleep with any woman he likes. John does not deny all this.
Many men and women continue to have multiple sexual partners without any concern that they might acquire or even transmit HIV in the process.
Studies show that having sex with more than one partner increases the risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV to other partners.
The fact that sex with multiple sexual partners is listed as a risk factor for HIV infection is not surprising. If two people engaged in sex with different people, the total number in this ‘sex network’ would be four.
And, assuming each of these four once again engaged in sex with one other person, the number of partners in the network would increase to eight.
As the number of sexual partners in the network increases so does the risk of having sex with an infected partner. This, coupled with limited condom use, increases the risk of HIV infection.
Interestingly, many Ugandans are already aware of the need to limit the number of sexual partners. Surprisingly though, many people continue to have multiple sexual partners.
Uganda had registered significant declines in multiple sexual partnerships and these declines were believed to have been responsible for the decline in the percentage of people infected with HIV from an average of 18% in 1992 to about 6% by 2000.
As a matter of fact, the percentage of men with two or more partners reduced from 15% to 3% between 1986 and 1991.
This reduction was consistent with the early HIV prevention messages that called upon individuals and couples to “stick to one partner†and “love faithfullyâ€. This momentum seems to have been lost along the way, between 2001 and 2005 as already reported.
A focus group discussion was conducted in Rakai district to assess people’s perceptions about limiting the number of sexual partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Edward, 32, one of the participants said: “If you test my blood for two or three times and tell me that I am HIV-negative when I have four sexual partners, I don’t see any reason why I should leave them. I just know that they are also HIV-negative.â€
Edward’s perception of his own risk for HIV infection is at its lowest ebb, and he is determined to continue engaging in multiple sexual partnerships with the mistaken belief that he is safe from HIV infection. Edward is not alone.
There are many other people out there who think and behave in much the same way. When people test for HIV more than once and are found to be HIV negative, they tend to believe that they are either “lucky in choosing HIV-free partners†or that they cannot be infected with HIV.
HIV counsellors and other HIV/AIDS health workers need to continue to emphasise the need for safer sex practices among repeat testers, irrespective of how many times they have tested HIV-negative.
What is making HIV prevention even more challenging is the belief among some people that HIV/AIDS is no longer as serious a health threat as it used to be, especially with the availability of HIV treatment drugs known as antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.
James Kigozi, the communications officer for the Uganda AIDS Commission, has been quoted in the press as saying: “people no longer look at HIV/AIDS as an immediate threat. The era of ARVs has made people complacent.
That is why recent findings are showing doubling infection rates, a shift in trends and negative behaviour patterns.â€
According to Joan, 24, one of those interviewed during a focus group: “Some people say that HIV/AIDS has become more of a ‘malaria-like’ infection, something they have become used to, rather than a deadly infection.â€
Research commissioned by the Ministry of Health estimates that Uganda’s HIV prevalence in the general population has stabilised between 6.1 -6.5% since 2000, and there are fears that this percentage could increase unless new strategies and messages are devised to control the epidemic.
The writer works with the School of Public Health, Makerere University
What Research says
A study by the Uganda AIDS Commission shows that people with multiple sexual partners contribute up to 46% of recent infections in Uganda. Married people contribute 43% of the infections.
A study by A. Opio and colleagues from the Ministry of Health, suggests that up to 90% of both men and women knew that having sex with only one partner who is not infected with HIV and who has no other partners reduces the risk of HIV infection.
The percentage of people engaging in sex with multiple partners increased from 2% to 4% in women and from 24% to 29% in men between 2001 and 2005.
In a study of HIV-negative repeat testers in Rakai district in 2007, Matovu and colleagues found that the percentage of HIV-negative repeat testers, (18%), who had multiple sexual partnerships was greater than the 15% of the respondents who had multiple partners and had never tested for HIV.
L. Atuyambe and colleagues of Makerere University School of Public Health in their study to assess how the increased availability of antiretroviral drugs would affect people’s sexual risk behaviours, report that people take AIDS as a cough which can be cured because of the availability of ARVs. Even if one is infected, he/she can swallow ARVs and have a healthy long life.