There is a significant yet unexplored link between the abuse of alcohol and drugs and the spread of HIV/Aids
Khadija Magardie
All indicators point to the fact that the young and economically productive are the most likely to be felled by the HIV/Aids pandemic.
According to a recently released report by Love-Life, an advocacy body involved in HIV/Aids awareness, “around 60% of all adults who acquire HIV become infected before they turn 25”.
This shocking statistic means that the disease, unlike others to which the very young and very old are especially vulnerable, strikes particularly at the youth, namely men and women aged 20 to 24. Experts have attributed this to the fact that this group is most vulnerable to unprotected sexual activity, and by extension, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
But an area on which research is scant, and campaigning equally so, is the indirect relationship between substance abuse and the spread of HIV/Aids.
Although there is a percentage of HIV/Aids infections through the use of intravenous drugs, this accounts for less than 1% of the total number of infections.
The main causal link is the result of the way in which substance abuse affects behavioural patterns. The effects of alcohol, or experimentation with drugs, promote or increase the incidence of what specialists have termed “high risk” behaviour, particularly unprotected sex. Young men and women who would normally, in a sober state, use protection like condoms, would, under the influence of alcohol or drugs be less inclined to do so.
High-risk behaviour because of substance abuse need not necessarily be by both partners. If one partner is either drunk or drugged, the other partner is often less able to negotiate using protection during sex.
This has particular consequences for women, who are vulnerable to rape and/or battery by a partner who refuses to wear a condom. Women with abusive partners are often unable to refuse their partners sex or negotiate safer-sex practices such as monogamy, abstinence or the use of protection.
Both women’s advocacy groups and NGOs involved in HIV/Aids awareness programmes need to highlight the significance of this link, and step up education around the issue. The failure to address a timely response to the issue will result in teenagers, in particular, not fully comprehending the association between over- drinking and drug use and reckless sexual behaviour that could ultimately have fatal consequences.