Sexual behaviour research and HIV / AIDS
Aggleton, P.
Global Aidsnews the Newsletter of the World Health Organization Global Programme on Aids 3: 7-8
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 1020-007X PMID: 12318932 Document Number: 287350
Starting in the late 1980s, The World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) coordinated and supported a number of large-scale, random-sample surveys aimed mostly at determining the patterns of sexual behavior in the general population. This was in addition to examining behavior between sex workers and their clients, and among gay and bisexual men. The general population surveys found wide variations in the extent of premarital sex. For instance, while less than 10% of never-married men aged 15-19 in Burundi reported intercourse in the past year, the figure in Guinea Bissau was more than 50%. For young women, the proportions were 3% and 30% respectively. In Singapore, 3% of never-married men aged 15-19 reported sex in the past year, compared with 29% in Thailand. The proportion of men aged 15-49 reporting sex outside regular partnerships in the past year also varied widely (Burundi 8%, Central African Republic 14%, Cote d'Ivoire 50%, Lesotho 42%, Philippines [Manila] 15%, Sri Lanka 3%, and Thailand 30%). Divergent levels of condom use during commercial sex reflected differences in availability and cultural norms. Early in 1991, GPA's Steering Committee on Social and Behavioral Research identified research on the social and contextual factors affecting risk-related sexual activity as a high priority. A prototype research protocol was developed and used to brief selected potential principal investigators from countries in Africa, Central and Southern America, and South and South-East Asia, who were interested in preparing proposals for studies funded by GPA. As a large proportion of infections occur among young people, GPA's research support will focus primarily on the contextual factors affecting risk-related sexual activity among teenagers and young adults. It will examine how young people learn about sexual issues and sexual meanings, the contexts in which sexual activity takes place, and how sex is explained and understood.