Study Confirms Abstinence in Africa Is Seen as Failure against H.I.V

Study Confirms Abstinence in Africa Is Seen as Failure against H.I.V

According to a study presented on the last day of an AIDS conference
The $1.3 billion that the United States government has spent since 2005 encouraging Africans to avoid AIDS by practicing abstinence and fidelity did not measurably change sexual behavior and was largely wasted

The ABC program particularly targeted young people between the ages of 15 and 24, a population that accounts for half of new infections.
Proponents of the program said that a decline in the number of sexual partners among men and women will decrease the likelihood of HIV spreading on the continent. Abstinence-centered education in tandem with correct and consistent condom use would help Pepfar advance its mission.
But that hasn’t been the case. Even with nearly $1.7 billion spent to launch a public health campaign focused on abstinence in Uganda, rates of HIV infection soared

The researcher, Nathan Lo, analyzed records showing the age of people having sex for the first time, teenage pregnancy and number of sexual partners in international health surveys that have been paid for by the State Department since the 1970s.
His work was overseen by Dr. Eran Bendavid, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford,

President George W. Bush’s global AIDS plan was enacted in 2003 and marshaled billions of dollars to treat Africans who had AIDS with lifesaving drugs. Conservative Republican leaders in the House of Representatives successfully included a provision that one-third of AIDS prevention money go to programs to encourage abstinence and fidelity.
That campaign — known as ABC, for abstain, be faithful and use condoms — was part of the bargain made when Christian conservatives joined with liberals to pass the law.

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U.S. Push for Abstinence in Africa Is Seen as Failure Against H.I.V.

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Thursday, March 05, 2015

Tags – AIDS Education HIV