{"id":222,"date":"2011-02-16T21:34:37","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T21:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/?p=222"},"modified":"2011-05-02T21:12:40","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T21:12:40","slug":"why-did-the-hiv-epidemic-decline-in-zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2011\/02\/16\/why-did-the-hiv-epidemic-decline-in-zimbabwe\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did the HIV epidemic decline in Zimbabwe ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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?\u00a0 Why was this decline experienced in Zimbabwe and not in other countries?\u00a0 Are there lessons to be learnt from Zimbabwe\u2019s experience?<\/p>\n

Basing itself on a multi-disciplinary synthesis of available data (including household survey and qualitative data), a recent study (http:\/\/www.plosmedicine.org\/article\/info:doi\/10.1371\/journal.pmed.1000414 )<\/a> convincingly attributes the proximate cause to behavioural change involving a reduction in partner concurrency.\u00a0 Underlying causes of behavioural change prove harder to ascertain, but increased awareness of AIDS deaths is likely to have been responsible, with some secondary impact from the country\u2019s economic deterioration.\u00a0 The study is disappointingly unable to pinpoint specific public health interventions.<\/p>\n

The authors attribute difference between Zimbabwe and other countries in the region to higher levels of secondary education and higher levels of marriage.\u00a0 The former is associated with better understanding of HIV transmission, the latter with a greater ability to act on \u201cbe faithful\u201d messages.\u00a0 In the context of the paper these factors seem to have been plucked out of the air, though they are plausible enough.\u00a0 There is no uncertainty, however about the \u201cone lesson emerging\u201d from the review.\u00a0 This is clearly the importance of concurrent partner reduction in curbing the epidemic.\u00a0 \u201cPublic and private sector programs in Zimbabwe are now building upon this knowledge by more assertively warning against multiple and concurrent partners and promoting sexual fidelity, in addition to consistent condom use and other effective approaches such as male circumcision\u201d.<\/p>\n

Daniel T. Halperin, \u201cA Surprising Prevention Success: Why Did the HIV Epidemic Decline in Zimbabwe?\u201d PLoS Medicine, February 2011<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.plosmedicine.org\/article\/info:doi\/10.1371\/journal.pmed.1000414<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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?\u00a0 Why was this decline experienced in Zimbabwe and not in other countries?\u00a0 Are there lessons to be learnt from Zimbabwe\u2019s experience? Basing itself on […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2043,151,2012],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behaviour","category-epidemiology","category-hiv-infection"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy did the HIV epidemic decline in Zimbabwe ? - Sexually Transmitted Infections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2011\/02\/16\/why-did-the-hiv-epidemic-decline-in-zimbabwe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why did the HIV epidemic decline in Zimbabwe ? - Sexually Transmitted Infections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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?\u00a0 Why was this decline experienced in Zimbabwe and not in other countries?\u00a0 Are there lessons to be learnt from Zimbabwe\u2019s experience? 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