Prevalence and Meanings of Exchange of Money or Gifts for Sex in Unmarried Adolescent Sexual Relationships in Sub-Saharan Africa

AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the deadly epidemics that affected millions of people, especially in poor sub-Saharan Africa. Sexual intercourse is the most important transmission route of HIV. Condom and mutually faithful sexual relationships are accepted as the main methods of protection against HIV risk today. Media is an important tool that informs, enlightens, and affects the public. Scientific studies have revealed that the media has important functions in prevention from HIV. This study focused on the media's role in HIV prevention. Today's media is generally divided into mass media and social media. Exposure to mass media programs about HIV prevention topics generally can help increase HIV/AIDS awareness and reduce risk behaviors. Social media, even if not used sufficiently in countries where HIV is common, has also an important role in informing and educating people about HIV/AIDS, its transmission, and prevention.

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Maasai Girls’ Experiences of Ukimwi ni Homa (AIDS Is a Fever): Idioms of Vulnerability and HIV Risk in East Africa

Human Organization ◽

10.17730/1938-3525-80.4.332 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (4) ◽

pp. 332-342

Author(s):

Kristin Hedges

Keyword(s):

Hiv Risk ◽

Risk Perceptions ◽

Sexual Relationships ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Combination Prevention ◽

Hiv Intervention ◽

Aids Epidemic ◽

Sub Saharan

There have been enormous strides in response to the AIDS epidemic in the past decades; however, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remain at high risk for new HIV infection throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Recognizing this continued discrepancy, I call for more attention to girls’ perceptions of vulnerabilities by revisiting an ethnographic study of HIV risk carried out in 2004 in a rural community in Kenya. My analysis situates Maasai AGYW perceptions and understandings of HIV risk as a culturally constructed idiom of distress: “Ukimwi ni Homa” (AIDS is a fever). I examine the emic perspectives of HIV vulnerability and the association of sexual relationships within the context of economic precarity. Findings demonstrate how references to fevers expressed feelings of helplessness, which increased indifference to HIV risk. This indifference led AGYW to prioritize imminent economic needs over long-term effects of a viral infection that they perceived as inevitable. Critically reflecting on AGYW understandings of their own risk perceptions can influence effective HIV intervention design. My conclusions support the need for tailoring combination prevention approaches to address perceived vulnerabilities within populations. Such perspectives add valuable insights to studies rooted in cultural constructions of illness perspective.

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RTS,S/AS01, a vaccine targeting pre-erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20170101 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (6) ◽

pp. 533-537

Author(s):

Lorenz von Seidlein ◽

Borimas Hanboonkunupakarn ◽

Podjanee Jittmala ◽

Sasithon Pukrittayakamee

Keyword(s):

Protective Efficacy ◽

Age Groups ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Phase Iii ◽

European Medicines Agency ◽

Older Children ◽

Pivotal Phase ◽

Malaria Epidemiology ◽

Maximum Benefit ◽

Sub Saharan

RTS,S/AS01 is the most advanced vaccine to prevent malaria. It is safe and moderately effective. A large pivotal phase III trial in over 15 000 young children in sub-Saharan Africa completed in 2014 showed that the vaccine could protect around one-third of children (aged 5–17 months) and one-fourth of infants (aged 6–12 weeks) from uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The European Medicines Agency approved licensing and programmatic roll-out of the RTSS vaccine in malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. WHO is planning further studies in a large Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, in more than 400 000 young African children. With the changing malaria epidemiology in Africa resulting in older children at risk, alternative modes of employment are under evaluation, for example the use of RTS,S/AS01 in older children as part of seasonal malaria prophylaxis. Another strategy is combining mass drug administrations with mass vaccine campaigns for all age groups in regional malaria elimination campaigns. A phase II trial is ongoing to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the RTSS in combination with antimalarial drugs in Thailand. Such novel approaches aim to extract the maximum benefit from the well-documented, short-lasting protective efficacy of RTS,S/AS01.

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Mortality and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa

Population Studies ◽

10.1080/0032472031000147416 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 555-556

Author(s):

Lado Ruzicka

Keyword(s):

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

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Sub-Saharan Africa

The Military Balance ◽

10.1080/04597228708459635 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 118-142

Keyword(s):

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

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Adolescent Suicidality as Seen in Rural Northeastern Uganda

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000059 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 43-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Eugene Kinyanda ◽

Ruth Kizza ◽

Jonathan Levin ◽

Sheila Ndyanabangi ◽

Catherine Abbo

Keyword(s):

Low Socioeconomic Status ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Psychosocial Risk ◽

Psychiatric Nurses ◽

Health Concern ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Low Socioeconomic ◽

Dsm Iv ◽

Sub Saharan

Background: Suicidal behavior in adolescence is a public health concern and has serious consequences for adolescents and their families. There is, however, a paucity of data on this subject from sub-Saharan Africa, hence the need for this study. Aims: A cross-sectional multistage survey to investigate adolescent suicidality among other things was undertaken in rural northeastern Uganda. Methods: A structured protocol administered by trained psychiatric nurses collected information on sociodemographics, mental disorders (DSM-IV criteria), and psychological and psychosocial risk factors for children aged 3–19 years (N = 1492). For the purposes of this paper, an analysis of a subsample of adolescents (aged 10–19 years; n = 897) was undertaken. Results: Lifetime suicidality in this study was 6.1% (95% CI, 4.6%–7.9%). Conclusions: Factors significantly associated with suicidality included mental disorder, the ecological factor district of residence, factors suggestive of low socioeconomic status, and disadvantaged childhood experiences.

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