Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 56 864 079 at 12.35pm on Wednesday April 14 2004.
There ‘would be no global Aids pandemic were it not for multiple sexual partnerships”, and more should be done to encourage people to reduce their number of sexual partners, according to an article written by officials from several organisations and published recently in the British Medical Journal.
The article says the ‘key to preventing the spread of HIV, especially in epidemics driven mainly by heterosexual transmission, is through changing sexual behaviour”.
According to the authors, ‘most of the often polarised discussion surrounding Aids prevention” has focused on abstinence and condom use, while partner reduction ‘has been the neglected middle child of the ABC [abstain, be faithful and condomise] approach”. The authors say that it is ‘imperative to begin including (and rigorously evaluating) messages about mutual fidelity and partner reduction in ongoing activities to change sexual behaviour”. The authors conclude: ‘Rather than arguing over the merits of abstinence versus condoms, it is time for the international community to unite around a balanced, evidence-based ABC approach.”
In an accompanying editorial, David Wilson, senior monitoring and evaluation specialist for the World Bank’s Global HIV/Aids Programme, writes that it is a ‘simple truth” that without multiple sex partnerships the HIV/Aids pandemic would not occur and adds that partner reduction ‘is good epidemiology, not good ideology, and we must ensure that the ABC approach remains sufficiently scientifically grounded to withstand shifting ideological sands”.
Source: kaisernetwork.org