SWAZILAND: AIDS campaign induces behaviour change

Mbabane, 27 October 2006 (PlusNews) - An aggressive HIV/AIDS awareness campaign has had a positive impact on the sexual behaviour and attitudes of Swazis, a new survey has found.

The study was commissioned by the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and conducted by the Mexico-based research centre, Community Information and Epidemiological Technologies (CIET).

A controversial awareness media campaign, called 'Makhwapheni' - SiSwati slang for illicit lovers - focused on the dangers of having multiple sexual partners. During extensive consultations to prepare for the Second National HIV and AIDS Multisectoral National Strategic Plan 2006-2008, the practice of multiple concurrent sexual partnerships was identified as the key driver of the epidemic, said NERCHA.

The campaign evoked a strong response from people living with HIV, who complained that it smacked of cheap sensationalism, but preliminary data from the USAID survey showed that it had struck home with average Swazis. Almost 90 percent of 2,100 randomly chosen adults had heard of the campaign, and 91 percent agreed with its message that secret lovers increased the risk of HIV infection.

More than 70 percent of respondents felt the campaign could have an impact on the AIDS situation in Swaziland, and even more - 78 percent - felt the message could contribute to a change in their personal sexual behaviour.

"The results are positive. The hardest part of the anti-AIDS efforts has been to convince people to modify their sexual behaviour. The survey shows this is happening," said Daniel Halperin, the USAID Technical Advisor for Prevention and Behaviour Change.

Survey participants, 64 percent of whom were women, up from 54 percent in 2005, said they were having fewer multiple partners this year than last, or were slightly more faithful to their primary sexual partner this year. The effectiveness of AIDS awareness campaigns is reflected in the number of people equating a new sexual partner with an increased risk of HIV infection: 92 percent in 2006, up from 87 percent last year.

According to preliminary data, more Swazis said they would change their sexual behaviour if they were diagnosed as HIV positive, and fewer intended having multiple partners this year.

Fewer Swazis believed casual sex, or sex with teenagers, was appropriate. When asked about people they knew, participants said fewer approved of casual sex. However, more people they knew still found sex with teenagers appropriate.

Derek von Wissell, Director of NERCHA, told IRIN/PlusNews, "The results were very encouraging, in terms of the penetration and understanding of the message. The real test will come when the results of the latest sentinel survey are announced in a month or so. Then we will see whether all the activities and campaigns are changing behaviour and having an impact on the epidemic."

The land-locked kingdom's HIV prevalence stands at around 40 percent.

Sex has been a taboo subject for public and even private discussion, which has proved a hindrance to health groups seeking to disseminate sexual information to prevent AIDS.

The USAID survey suggested that the sense of sexual privacy remained. Compared to 2005, a larger number of respondents this year felt that, despite the effect AIDS was having on the nation's economy and social fabric, the matter of sexual infidelity and multiple partners was "a personal matter of no consequence to anyone else".

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[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]