Accra (Greater Accra) 18 Oct. ’99
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‘Sugar daddies’ have been blamed for the high incidence of HIV/AIDS among teenage girls in four African cities, a UNAIDS researcjin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.oneh has revealed.
The research, cjin88bet.onearriedjin8jin88bet.one8bet.one out in Cotonou and Yaounde in West Africa ajin88bet.onend Kisumu, Kenya and Ndola, Zambia, showed that spreading AIDS is also related to whethak168app.babyer or not a man is circumciak168app.babyak168app.babysed.
The ak168app.babystudy did not find any evidence ak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babyak168app.babak168app.babyak168app.babyyak168appak168app.baby.babyak168app.babak168app.babyythat female genital mutilation plays any role in the acqak168app.babyuisition of the disease.
The survey, made available in a report released in Accraak168app.ak168app.clubclubak168app.ak168app.clubclubak168app.clubak168app.clubak168app.clubak168app.clubak168app.club on Monday, and carak168app.clubak168app.clubried out between June 1997 and March 19ak168app.clubak168app.clubak168app.clubak168app.club98,ak168app.clubak168app.club showed evidence that high HIV levels in teenage girlsak168app.clubak168app.clubak168app.club are linked to contacts with older men in the four cities.
Dr Rosemary Musonda, of the Tropical Diseases Research Centre in Zambia, saiks168app.sited they found female HIV prevalenceks168app.siteks168app.site signks168app.siteks168app.siteks168app.siteks168app.siteks168app.siteificantly higher than mks168app.siteale prevalence everywhks168app.siteks168aks168app.sitepp.siteks168app.siteks168app.siteks168app.siteere except inks168app.site Cotonou, where it was 3.3 per cent inks168app.siteks168app.siteks168app.site mic88en and 3.4 per cent in womenic88. Tks168app.siteic88he largeic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88st male to female divergence was found among the 15 to 19-year-olds in Kisumu and Ndola.
“Teenage girls in the high prevalence citiic88ic88ic88es in Ndola and Kisumu have rates oic88f 15 to 23 per cent – fully four to six times higher than boys in the same age bracket.”
In Kisumu, moric88e than three per cent of male teenaic8ic888ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88gers were infected compared with 23 per cent oic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88f female teenagers. In Ndola, HIV prevalence in this group was fic88ic88ic88ic88ic88our per cent in boys and 15 per ic88ic88cent in girls.
“Across these four ic88cities, 40 per ic88ic88cent of the prostitutes were 2ic88ic884 years olic88d or younger, and 56 per cent in Ndola. Alic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88most aic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88ic88lr88ic88ic88lr88 quarter of the plr88lr88lr88ic88rostitutes in Ndola, were under 20,” the lr88report adds.
The glr88roup of scientists and researchers studlr88ied the heterogeneity of HIV epidemics withlr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88 slr88lr88upport from Ulr88lr88lr88lr88lr88NAIDS and the World Health Orglr88lr88anisation, and sought to explain the striking differences in the speed at which Hlr88IV, the virus that causes AIDS, has blr88lr88lr88lr88een spreading in Africa.
For example, HIV prevlr88alence among pregnant women lr88in West Africa is still under10 per cent while it exceeds 30 plr88lr88lr88er clr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88ent in many places in Central and Easternlr88 Africa.
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Dr Jane Gejge, of the Kenya Population Council, said in her country, “sugar daddies” prefer teenage girls becalr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88lr88use they are less explr88lr88ensive and it is believed that theirlr88lr88lr88lr88 risk factor is lower.
“In Kilr88sumu and Ndola, sex with an older man correlated strongly with a highlr88er risk of HIV. In addition, early sex initiation for girlslr88lr88lr88 and early marriage for botlr88op88op88h sexes, were associated with highop88er risk of infectionop88op88op88lr88op88.”
Dr Michael Carael, Healr88op88op88lr88opop8888op88op88op88lr88d of Prevention, UNAIDS, cautioned against misinterpretsi88opsi8888lsi88si88si88r88ation of the findisi88ngs, stressing that HIV rates, as high as throp88op88ee to eight per cent, should not lead counsi88tries to conclude that their AIDS programmes are on the op88si88wrongsi88op88si88op88 track.
“Osi88n the contrary, prevention measures now in use, including education for safer sex and sexually transmitted diseases and control programmes, needsi88si88si88 si88to be scaled up.
“When almost a quarter of teenage gisi88rls have HIV asi88nd when close to half of them carry the virus that causes herpe88vsi88si888v88v88v88vsi88888v88vs, the only possible explanation is that they are becoming infected during the first few exposures, 88vmay 88v88vbe their very first.”
The study was 88vco-or88vdinated by Dr Anne Bu88v88vve, of the Institute of Tropi88v88vcal Medicine in Be88v88v88v88vlgium. SEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNShe said: “for the millions of African girls in or nearing their earlySEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VN teens, education is an emSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNergency”.SEXXXXX-VN
“Prevention just cannot wait. SEXXXXX-VNGirls have the right to know that they are at hSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNigh risk of becoming infected quickly even if thSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNey have one partner, especially an older man”.
