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May 11, 2008Major shift in HIV prevention priorities needed |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: According to a new policy analysis led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of California, Berkeley, the most common HIV prevention strategies---condom promotion, HIV testing, treatment of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), vaccine and microbicide research, and abstinence---are having a limited impact on the predominantly heterosexual epidemics found in Africa. Furthermore, some of the assumptions underlying such strategies---such as poverty or war being major causes of AIDS in Africa---are unsupported by rigorous scientific evidence. The researchers argue that two interventions currently getting less attention and resources---male circumcision and reducing multiple sexual partnerships---would have a greater impact on the AIDS pandemic and should become the cornerstone of HIV prevention efforts in the high-HIV-prevalence parts of Africa. "Despite relatively large investments in AIDS prevention efforts for some years now, including sizeable spending in some of the most heavily affected countries (such as South Africa and Botswana), it's clear that we need to do a better job of reducing the rate of new HIV infections. In most countries, HIV transmission remains concentrated among sex workers, men who have sex with men and/or injecting drug users and their sexual partners. In some parts of Africa, HIV has jumped outside these high-risk groups, creating "generalized" epidemics spread mainly among people who are having multiple and typically "concurrent" (overlapping, longer-term) sexual relationships. Studies have shown no consistent reduction in risk for those testing HIV-negative and testing programs have produced no evidence of HIV reduction in populations.
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