[afro-nets] Abstinence In Uganda's Fight Against HIV/AIDS

[Leela McCullough <leela@healthnet.org>]

IRIN News/AllAfrica.com Examines Debate Over Focus On Abstinence
In Uganda's Fight Against HIV/AIDS
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http://www.kaisernetwork.org

Article Date: 11 Apr 2006

IRIN News/AllAfrica.com on Tuesday examined the debate over
Uganda's promotion of abstinence until marriage as the country's
primary HIV prevention method (IRIN News/AllAfrica.com, 4/4).
Uganda has managed to reduce its HIV prevalence by half since
1992, a success that is credited to the "ABC" HIV prevention
model -- which stands for abstinence, be faithful and use con-
doms (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/1). The Ugandan govern-
ment, "under the perceived influence of the [U.S.] and the evan-
gelical church," has been "criticized for shifting the emphasis
of its fight against the pandemic to favor abstinence [until
marriage] over condom use," IRIN News/AllAfrica.com reports. Ac-
cording to a recent survey by the nongovernmental organization
Campus Alliance To Wipe Out AIDS, 70% of 2,000 recently surveyed
students at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, reported ab-
staining from sex. In addition, the "numerous billboards promot-
ing condom use that once lined Kampala's streets have gradually
disappeared, replaced with posters urging the youth to refrain
from sex before marriage," according to IRIN News/AllAfrica.com.
Critics of the abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention say,
"Uganda could risk compromising its hard-won gains" if it does
not take a "wider, more effective ABC approach" to fighting
HIV/AIDS, IRIN News/AllAfrica.com reports (IRIN
News/AllAfrica.com, 4/4). Some HIV/AIDS advocates say abstinence
until marriage might not work for vulnerable groups -- including
women and girls and young people who experience economic hard-
ship and conflict -- because they sometimes have limited power
in deciding whether to have sex (IRIN News/AllAfrica.com, 4/4).

Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org.
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