Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 64 021 441 at 2pm on Wednesday August 24 2005
As a generation of young Swazi women ended a five-year vow of chastity in a traditional ceremony this week, health officials are debating the impact of the custom on reducing the risk of HIV infection.
‘We have anecdotal evidence that girls are using the ‘sex ban’ as a way to avoid unwanted intercourse with demanding men. That is proof that some good has occurred — no one expected the custom to eliminate premarital sex entirely,” said Goodness Simelane, an HIV counsellor in Manzini.
The custom is known as umcwasho, after the tasselled woollen headgear worn by young women for five years.
It was re-introduced in 2001 as the government tried to prevent Aids in a country where an estimated 40% of adults are HIV-positive.
Health officials do not anticipate a sexual free-for-all now that the period of virginity has officially ended, but they would like to see the custom followed by all teenage girls, instead of occurring only once a generation. The last time the umcwasho was observed was in the 1970s.
A Health Ministry report, released in April, showed a decline in the number of HIV-positive pregnant girls from 33,5% in 2002 to 29,3% last year.
Analysts acknowledged that the data showed a stabilising of the infection rate among teenage girls.
Health officials also credit Aids-awareness campaigns and the effect of regular burials of relatives and friends who have died of Aids-related illnesses for influencing sexual behaviour. — Source: Irin