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Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer sex or protected sex to indicate that some safe sex practices do not eliminate STI risks. It is also sometimes used colloquially to describe methods aimed at preventing pregnancy that may or may not also lower STI risks.
Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical, moral, religious or other reasons. Sexual abstinence is distinct from asexuality, which is a sexual orientation where people feel little or no sexual attraction. Celibacy is sexual abstinence generally motivated by factors such as an individual's personal or religious beliefs. Sexual abstinence before marriage is required in some societies by social norms, or by law in some countries. It is a part of chastity.
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexualityeducation or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex and birth control, sexual health, reproductive health, emotional relations and responsibilities, age of consent, and reproductive rights. Sex education which includes all of these issues is known as comprehensive sex education, and is often opposed to abstinence-only sex education, which only focuses on sexual abstinence. Sex education may be provided as part of school programs, public health campaigns, or by parents or caregivers. In some countries it is known as "Relationships and Sexual Health Education".
HIV/AIDS originated in Africa during early 20th century and is a major public health concern and cause of death in many African countries. AIDS rates varies significantly between countries, though the majority of cases are concentrated in Southern Africa. Although the continent is home to about 15.2 percent of the world's population, more than two-thirds of the total infected worldwide – some 35 million people – were Africans, of whom 15 million have already died. Eastern and Southern Africa alone accounted for an estimate of 60 percent of all people living with HIV and 70 percent of all AIDS deaths in 2011. The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are most affected, AIDS has raised death rates and lowered life expectancy among adults between the ages of 20 and 49 by about twenty years. Furthermore, the life expectancy in many parts of Africa is declining, largely as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic with life-expectancy in some countries reaching as low as thirty-nine years.
The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a United States governmental initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003, as of May 2020, PEPFAR has provided about $90 billion in cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research since its inception, making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history until the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR is implemented by a combination of U.S. government agencies in over 50 countries and overseen by the Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State. As of 2021, PEPFAR has saved over 20 million lives, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Randall L. Tobias is an American governmental figure and former chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company. A Republican, he was appointed the first United States Director of Foreign Assistance, and served concurrently as the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the rank of ambassador.
Abstinence-only sex education is a form of sex education that teaches not having sex outside of marriage. It often excludes other types of sexual and reproductive health education, such as birth control and safe sex. Comprehensive sex education, by contrast, covers the use of birth control and sexual abstinence.
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is a sex education instruction method based on a curriculum that aims to give students the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and values to make appropriate and healthy choices in their sexual lives. The intention is that this understanding will prevent students from contracting sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and HPV. CSE is also designed with the intention of reducing unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, as well as lowering rates of domestic and sexual violence, thus contributing to a healthier society, both physically and mentally.
Abstinence, be faithful, use a condom, also known as the ABC strategy or abstinence-plus sex education, also known as abstinence-based sex education, is a sex education policy based on a combination of "risk avoidance" and harm reduction which modifies the approach of abstinence-only sex education by including education about the value of partner reduction safe sex and birth control methods. Abstinence-only sex education is strictly to promote the sexual abstinence until marriage, and does not teach about safe sex or contraceptives. The abstinence-based sex education program is meant to stress abstinence and include information on safe sex practices. In general terms, this strategy of sex education is a compromise between abstinence-only education and comprehensive sex education. The ABC approach was developed in response to the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and to prevent the spread of other sexually transmitted diseases. This approach has been credited by some with the falling numbers of those infected with AIDS in Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe, among others. From 1990 to 2001 the percentage of Ugandans living with AIDS fell from 15% to between 5 and 6%. This fall is believed to result from the employment of the ABC approach, especially reduction in the number of sex partners, called "Zero-Grazing" in Uganda.
Condoms, needles, and negotiation, also known as the CNN approach, is a harm reduction approach to reducing the rate of transmission of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS by:
The very high rate of HIV infection experienced in Uganda during the 1980s and early 1990s created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes. The great need for testing and counseling resulted in a group of local non-governmental organizations such as The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), Uganda Red Cross, Nsambya Home Care, the National Blood Bank, the Uganda Virus Research Institute together with the Ministry of Health establishing the AIDS Information Centre in 1990. This organization worked to provide HIV testing and counseling services with the knowledge and consent of the client involved.
Infection rates of HIV/AIDS in Mali are estimated to be under 2%, which is relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, although the infection rate is higher among women of childbearing age. However, this figure is most likely deceptive; the problem in attempting to estimate infection rates is that voluntary testing is rare. Women who give birth in a hospital are automatically tested, but others in the general population rarely present themselves for testing. National education campaigns have targeted the general population since the late 1990s, as government and international organizations are concerned that Malians may be vulnerable to the spread of the pandemic. Since 2002, the Supreme National Council for AIDS (HCNLS) has coordinated educational campaigns around sexual activity and condom use to stem HIV infection. Condom use remains low by international standards.
As of 2012, approximately 1,100,000 people in Malawi are HIV-positive, which represents 10.8% of the country's population. Because the Malawian government was initially slow to respond to the epidemic under the leadership of Hastings Banda (1966–1994), the prevalence of HIV/AIDS increased drastically between 1985, when the disease was first identified in Malawi, and 1993, when HIV prevalence rates were estimated to be as high as 30% among pregnant women. The Malawian food crisis in 2002 resulted, at least in part, from a loss of agricultural productivity due to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Various degrees of government involvement under the leadership of Bakili Muluzi (1994–2004) and Bingu wa Mutharika (2004–2012) resulted in a gradual decline in HIV prevalence, and, in 2003, many people living in Malawi gained access to antiretroviral therapy. Condoms have become more widely available to the public through non-governmental organizations, and more Malawians are taking advantage of HIV testing services.
Cases of HIV/AIDS in Peru are considered to have reached the level of a concentrated epidemic.
Miss HIV is a feature-length documentary by Ethnographic Media, released to DVD on August 26, 2008. Written and directed by Jim Hanon, and produced by Mart Green, the film explores the international collision of HIV/AIDS policies while following the journey of two HIV-positive women who enter a pageant in Botswana. What is happening in Botswana, where half of all pregnant women are HIV positive, is set contrasted with the past successes of Uganda, which has experienced one of the largest reductions in HIV infections ever recorded.
The Catholic Church is a major provider of medical care to HIV/AIDS patients. Much of its work takes place in developing countries, although it has also had a presence in the global north. Its opposition to condoms, despite their effectiveness in preventing the spread of HIV, has invited criticism from public health officials and anti-AIDS activists.
The relationship between religion and HIV/AIDS has been an ongoing one, since the advent of the pandemic. Many faith communities have participated in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, offering free treatment, as well as promoting HIV/AIDS testing and preventative measures. Christian denominations, such as Lutheranism and Methodism, have advocated for the observance of World AIDS Day to educate their congregations about the disease. Some Churches run voluntary blood testing camps and counselling centers to diagnose and help those affected by HIV/AIDS.
AIDS Information Centre-Uganda (AIC) is a Non-Governmental Organization in Uganda established in 1990 to provide Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV). The Organization was founded as a result of growing demand from people who wanted to know their HIV status. At this time the HIV/AIDS in Uganda was high.
Sex education in the United States is taught in two main forms: comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only as part of the Adolescent Family Life Act, or AFLA. Comprehensive sex education is also called abstinence-based, abstinence-plus, abstinence-plus-risk-reduction, and sexual risk reduction sex education. This approach covers abstinence as a choice option, but also informs adolescents about human sexuality, age of consent and the availability of contraception and techniques to avoid contraction of sexually transmitted infections. Every state within the U.S. has a mandated AIDS Education Program.
HIV prevention refers to practices that aim to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV prevention practices may be undertaken by individuals to protect their own health and the health of those in their community, or may be instituted by governments and community-based organizations as public health policies.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Cohen, J., & Tate, T. (2005). The less they know the better. Abstinence-only HIV/AIDS programs in Uganda pg 1.
- 1 2 3 4 Stoneburner, R. L., & Low-Beer, D. (2004). Population-level HIV declines and behavioural risk avoidance in Uganda. Science, 304(5671), 714–718.
- ↑ Sinding, S. W. (2005). Does ‘CNN’(condoms, needles and negotiation) work better than 'ABC'(abstinence, being faithful and condom use) in attacking the AIDS epidemic. International Family Planning Perspectives, 31(1), 38–40
- ↑ Human Rights Watch interview, Kampala, November 10, 2004.
- ↑ Janet Museveni, "The AIDS Pandemic: Saving the Next Generation," World Congress of Families, New York, May 3, 2002, http://www.worldcongress.org (retrieved January 11, 2005). Anne Mugisa, "Janet to Host 70,000 Virgins," The New Vision, December 1, 2004, http://allafrica.com (retrieved December 2, 2004).
- ↑ Priya Abraham, "Hooked on Failure Africa: In Africa’s Fight Against AIDS, the United States Continues to Support Family-Planning Groups that Stifle the White House Abstinence and Fidelity Message," World Magazine, November 6, 2004, http://www.worldmag.com (retrieved December 8, 2004).
- ↑ A December 2002 executive order governing federal funding of community and faith-based organizations states that, in accordance with the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state, "organizations that engage in inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction, and proselytization, must offer those services separately in time or location from any programs or services supported with direct Federal financial assistance." Executive Order 13279—Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-Based and Community Organizations, Federal Register, vol. 67, no. 241, December 16, 2002.
- 1 2 3 4 Schoepf, Brooke Grundfest. "Uganda: lessons for AIDS control in Africa." Review of African Political Economy (2003): 553-572.
- ↑ Schoepf, B. G. (2003). Uganda: lessons for AIDS control in Africa. Review of African Political Economy, 553–572.
- 1 2 3 4 van de Walle, E., & van de Walle, F. (1988). Birthspacing and abstinence in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Family Planning Perspectives, 14(1), 25-6.
- ↑ Hindin, M. J., & Fatusi, A. O. (2009). Adolescent sexual and reproductive health in developing countries: an overview of trends and interventions. International perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 35(2), 58-62.