The year 1939 saw total US syphilis deaths at 15 per 100,000 and syphilis deaths of black males at 72.5 per 100,000: this is a death rate comparable to that for HIV/AIDS at the height of the epidemic in 1995 when total deaths and deaths of black males stood, respectively, at 16.2 and 80.2 per […]
Category: Behaviour
Does Muslim religion have an impact on HIV transmission?
How is it that the nations of the Middle East and North Africa appear to have relatively low rates of HIV (see https://blogs.bmj.com/sti/2011/09/19/bringing-to-light-the-hiv-epidemiology-of-%E2%80%9Chidden%E2%80%9D-msm-populations-in-the-middle-east/)? A recent paper in the American Sociological Review – Adamczyk & Hayes – seeks to demonstrate that the predominance of the Muslim religion in a country may have a macro-level, cultural impact […]
Impact on sexual behaviour of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in US navy
Epidemiological research has sometimes addressed the impact on men who have sex with men (MSM) sexual behaviour of being “non-gay identifying” (NGI) (Yun, Wang et al. (http://sti.bmj.com/content/87/7/563.full?sid=a367a77d-f830-46ee-b761-eec8d9e22da2 ); Mercer & Cassell (http://ijsa.rsmjournals.com/content/20/2/87.full) or of belonging to a culture in which openness about sexuality by MSM is sometimes difficult and personally costly (Lane, Kegeles et al. (http://sti.bmj.com/content/84/6/430.full?sid=ab090fad-0769-479b-a7d5-e6ba10da5609). […]
Non-disclosure of HIV sero-status by Indian female sex workers
With the roll-out of the Bill and Melinda Gates initiated Avahan interventions in India over the last decade, a growing body of evidence has accumulated on the contribution of commercial sex-work to the spread of the HIV epidemic, and the effectiveness of behavioural interventions focussed on this sector. With the international effort concentrating elsewhere primarily […]
HIV testing gives rise to behaviour change
What sort of impact does HIV testing (Voluntary Testing and Counselling: VCT) have on an individual’s subsequent sexual behaviour? A number of studies of VCT clients in sub-Saharan Africa, and published in STI journal, suggest a significant preventative effect. A two-year cohort study of 401 clients of Kenyan government health centres (Arthur & Gilks, 2007) […]
How infectious are HIV+ MSM on ART?
How effective is HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) in preventing HIV transmission among MSM (men who have sex with men)? The recent HPTN (HIV Prevention Trials Network) 052 clinical trial demonstrated, to great acclaim, that with heterosexual sero-discordant couples early initiation of HAART is associated with 96% reduction in HIV transmission. Yet there are reasons […]
The real-life STI prevention potential of the male condom: hard to fulfil, hard to evaluate
In the face of 340 million incident cases of STI worldwide each year, UNAIDS in a recent statement deemed the male latex condom “… the single most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections”. Sadly, though the condom may be effective in vitro, this potential proves hard […]
How does the experience of sexual coercion influence subsequent sexual behaviour?
Does the experience of sexual coercion predispose the sufferer to the kind of sexual behaviour likely to render him/her more vulnerable to HIV? Knowing the extent and the mechanisms of such influence could be helpful to those planning public health interventions in high risk populations. How important to HIV prevention is it to modify coercive […]
Is research on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual health a public health priority?
Last month saw the publication by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) of a report commissioned by the National Institute of Health (NIH): The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding. The report is a systematic review on the existing literature on all aspects of LGBT health, […]
Why did the HIV epidemic decline in Zimbabwe ?
Why did Zimbabwe experience a remarkable decline in HIV prevalence, from 29% to 16% of adult population between 1997 and 2007, with incidence decline strongly accelerated between about 1999 and 2003? Why was this decline experienced in Zimbabwe and not in other countries? Are there lessons to be learnt from Zimbabwe’s experience? Basing itself on […]