This archive report was first published on 29 June 2019.
Published on June 29, 2019, a regional study covering 11 East and Southern African countries, including Kenya, has found a growing complacency against HIV-Aids.
The study, conducted by Imperial College London and the Biomedical Research and Training Institute of Zimbabwe, compared sex behaviour before the HIV pandemic, during the peak in the 1980s and 90s, and today.
According to the study, high multiplicity of sex partners was a common phenomenon before the HIV scare of the 1980s and 90s, which led to less risky sex behaviour.
However, the study found that this behaviour has crept back, with indications that non-regular partnerships have increased.
Analysing data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and AIDS Indicator Surveys (AIS) from the 11 countries, the researchers found that loose sex behaviour has become more prevalent, characterised by having multiple sex partners, engaging more with casual partners, and early debut in sex, especially for young girls.
While there is more condom use than before, the study suggests that populations may return to pre-epidemic levels in risky behaviour.
The authors attribute this trend to increasing use of condoms, complacency due to the availability of HIV treatment, and normalisation of Aids.
The study covered Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and reported a recent increase in multiple, non-regular, and casual partnerships among men in 10 of the 11 countries and in women in nine of these countries.
