[afro-nets] Promoting the Social Vaccine against HIV/AIDS (4)

[Wendy Holmes <holmes@burnet.edu.au>]

Promoting the Social Vaccine against HIV/AIDS (4)
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It is true that encouraging responsible sexual conduct will act
as a social vaccine against HIV.

Of course some will want, for religious or cultural reasons, to
promote abstinence. I think that it is important while doing
this not to make young people feel that sex is dirty or impure,
or that it destroys love. One of the many sad side effects of
this epidemic is that our prevention responses can make young
people associate sex with disease and death, rather than as a
source of joy, love and health.

I think that we have to be careful to tell young people the
truth. It is not true that sex is safe only within marriage.
This is a dangerous falsehood for two reasons. If young people
do have sex before marriage (and we know that many do) they are
less likely to use a condom if they believe that the sex will be
unsafe anyway. Secondly - most women in the world with HIV be-
came infected through sex within marriage. This message adds to
the stigma associated with HIV - because if people believe this
message then they tend to think that anyone who has HIV has had
sex outside marriage.

There are some very good points among the 'Points to remember'
list - including the emphasis on self-esteem, "I am worth wait-
ing for", and on responsibility. I think it is a pity to devalue
the list by including harmful falsehoods.

Best wishes,

Wendy Holmes

--
Wendy Holmes MB BS MSc
Deputy Director Technical Programs
Centre for International Health
Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health
Alfred Medical Research & Education Precinct (AMREP)
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