More Sex, Less HIV?

[sexykatie90]

thumbs up if you like More Sex, Less HIV?

[Olekander]

interesting, but complicated.

[Jleigh225]

I'm not sure if this is a direct correlation between premarital sex and less HIV. In the early 1990's prostitution in Thailand just became highly regulated and Mechai Viravaidya was campaigning tirelessly for the use of condoms and prevention against HIV. If nothing but a boom in premarital sex was going on the evidence is indisputable, but there wasn't only that so how can you attribute the decline so strongly to that one factor?

[drprasad79]

Thanks for putting the information on youtube. I would rather go for a multi-factorial causation theory and the effect of premarital sex as one of the contributing factor but not the sole factor.

[wombatstew1]

Well it's about time!! Thanks for a refreshing, provocative, forward-thinking approach to the AIDS epidemic! Now, if only we can figure out a way to stop the strangle-hold the Catholic church has on sex ed in sub Saharan Africa. Their official position, that condoms _cause_ AIDS, is as preposterous as it is irresponsible.

[ternyata1]

@ djlank

The public health response did have an effect certainly. Some men shifted from higher-risk brothel-based sex workers to lower-risk (because lower partner turnover) karaoke based sex workers. Condom use rose dramatically in commercial sex, though not in non-commercial sex. I've taken these factors into account in the calculations, which are, as you point out, greatly simplified here. For full details of the data, see The Wisdom of Whores Chapter 5.

[djlank99]

Not much evidence on that one. Perhaps the visitation of prostitutes went down because some became sick/died of HIV/AIDS? How about cheating? Still happens when intercourse takes place within couples. Is it not possible that this reduction came from advances in public health marketing strategies and subsequently changed behaviors? I have seen eerily similar data for the same period and that data was referring to the successful integration of public health ideals into the neighboring areas

[pukeachu]

I'm in semi-agreement; Pisani is undeniably that rare amalgam of acute wit and loving-kind soul and while I've no interest in condemning the amorous, her assertion jumps to the conclusion that folks will remain monogamous and go out of their way to use protection to begin with. The most exhaustive research on the spread of AIDS in subsaharan Africa confirms that this isn't always the case.