Author: Mark Mascolini
22 June 2007
Contradicting a common belief about HIV transmission in African couples, a multinational survey found that in some countries 60% of the infected partners in HIV-discordant couples are women, PlusNews reports.
Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire were among the countries in which women accounted for more than half of infected spouses. Vinod Mishra of Macro International, a US-based research group, unveiled the results at a meeting on scaling up AIDS services in Kigali, Rwanda.
At the same meeting David Apuuli, head of the Uganda AIDS Commission, reported that marital sex explains 42% of new infections in Uganda, where HIV prevalence has started climbing again after years of stability.
Although the high proportion of infected women in discordant couples runs counter to the perception that infected African husbands usually infect their wives, epidemiologists explained that the finding is not that surprising for at least two related reasons:
First, women are biologically more prone to HIV infection than men. Second, many girls are forced into sexual relations with older men before getting married, become infected, and carry the virus into their marriage. In most African countries, HIV prevalence in girls and young women far exceeds that in boys and young men.
Macro International's Mishra also suggested the findings may indicate that married women are having extramarital sex more than many assume.
"It's not about laying the blame," Mishra said of the findings, "it's about saving lives; it's about preventing future infections within marriage."
Source: PlusNews. Africa: sharing more than just the matrimonial bed. 19 June 2007.
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