HIV Prevention for a Threatened Continent
Implementing Positive Prevention in Africa
- Rebecca Bunnell, ScD, MEd;
- Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH;
- Kevin M. De Cock, MD, FRCP, DTM&H
- Author Affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–Uganda, Global AIDS Program, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Entebbe (Drs Bunnell and Mermin); and Department of HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (Dr De Cock).
- Corresponding Author: Rebecca Bunnell, ScD, MEd, Uganda Virus Research Institute, PO Box 49, Entebbe, Uganda (rrb7{at}cdc.gov).
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA
- COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL
- DISEASE TRANSMISSION
- HIV INFECTIONS
- HIV SEROPOSITIVITY
- PUBLIC HEALTH
The enormous human tragedy represented by more than 2.4 million deaths and 3.2 million incident human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in sub-Saharan Africa in 20051 highlights the inadequacy of current HIV prevention efforts in Africa. Although considerable expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs is occurring in Africa, prevention efforts have not kept pace. In low-income countries, substantial investment in prevention may be cost-effective, since future care and treatment costs will be averted. New approaches and new resources might reinvigorate underfinanced HIV prevention efforts and avoid a widening gap between the numbers of individuals needing and receiving ART.
Positive Prevention
Internationally, HIV prevention efforts traditionally have concentrated on reducing HIV acquisition risk, focusing primarily on uninfected individuals or ignoring the serostatus of target populations. When HIV prevention efforts began in Africa nearly 20 years ago, HIV testing was not widely available, and concerns about potential stigma and negative social outcomes related to …
