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Language

English (en)

Date of Award

4-24-2006

Author's School

College of Arts & Sciences

Author's Department

International and Area Studies

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)

Restricted/Unrestricted

Restricted

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa has been devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic since the disease emerged in the early 1980s. The sub-continent has just over I 0% of the world's population, but is now home to more than 60% of all people living with HIV. 1 The region suffers from a generalized epidemic, meaning that the disease cuts across all boundaries: age, gender, sexual orientation, class, religion, ethnicity, social and economic status, rural and urban landscapes.2 According to estimates by UNAIDS, at the end of2005 there were 25.8 million people (aged 0-49) living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa; 13.5 million were women (aged 15-49). The adult HIV prevalence rate is 7.2% for the entire region, where AIDS is the leading cause of death, causing one out of every five deaths. 3 And almost a quarter of a century since the emergence of AIDS, the epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has shown few signs of slowing. HIV prevalence rates are soaring in many of the region's countries, while in those that have experienced declines in prevalence, there are signs that rates might again be on the rise. It is clear that HIV prevention programs are doing something wrong. This paper uses the example of Uganda to stress the urgent need for re-evaluation of current HIV prevention policy. During the 1990s, Uganda experienced a significant decline in HIV prevalence. The country is often used as sub-Saharan Africa's model of success in the battle against AIDS. Yet despite the successes, HIV/AIDS remains a large problem for the country. Through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States has concentrated their HIV prevention efforts in Uganda on abstinence and monogamy, designating one-third of prevention funding for abstinence- only-until-marriage programs for youth. These abstinence programs, modeled after programs based in the United States, refuse to teach Ugandan youth about safe sex and condom use. In doing so, these programs completely deny the socioeconomic context surrounding sexual behavior in Uganda. This paper will argue that abstinence-only programs are unsuitable for HIV prevention in Uganda. By ignoring the Ugandan context of poverty, gender inequality, and risky cultural practices - where sex isn't always a choice - abstinence-only programs threaten to damage the Ugandan success story. To

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