There is confusion among older South Africans about the link between HIV and Aids, the effectiveness of condoms in curbing infections, and the purpose of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment.
This is one of the findings of the Second South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communications Survey released on Wednesday.
The study was commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
The principal investigator and CEO of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Dr Olive Shisana, described the finding as a ”worrying trend”.
”Older South Africans were found to be uncertain about whether HIV causes Aids and whether a cure exists.
”There was also confusion on whether condoms prevent HIV infection.”
Asked whether this could be attributed, for example, to the current debate between Matthias Rath and the Treatment Action Campaign over the effectiveness of ARVs, Dr Warren Parker, of the Centre for Aids Development Research and Evaluation (Cadre), said it is unlikely.
”We need to look at this information in a different way. The confusion over ARVs is confirmed to be among older people who are not targeted in [Rath’s vitamin] campaign.
”But it’s less likely to be attributed to what is currently happening, even though this maybe a contributing factor. It’s more likely to be general misunderstanding.”
The study also revealed that 66% of those interviewed did not think they were at risk of being infected, including those who were found to be HIV-positive but did not know. — Sapa