HIV/AIDS+WORK Swaziland

4Swaziland: HIV/AIDS work and developmentless than 25 years old and about 87% of thoseinfected were under 30 years of age. As withthe adolescents mentioned above, this highlevel of infection among young females reflectsa high rate of new infections (incidence). Ifthese trends persist, they will have a severeimpact on the socio-economic fabric of thecountry, since this age group represents theeconomically-productive and -reproductivepopulation.Equally high HIV prevalence rates havebeen recorded among married and unmarriedpersons—36.8% and 40% (2002) respectively.This shows that people get infected very young,even before the mean age of getting married.ii. Factors contributing to the spread of HIVinfectionSome cultural expectations and genderrelations have been found to contribute to HIVtransmission—in particular those that increasewomen’s vulnerability.In Swazi society women lack bargainingpower to negotiate safe sex, and polygamy iscommon which greatly increases women’s riskof contracting HIV. The 2002 survey found that,of those who tested positive for syphilis, 53%were HIV-positive; and among those who testednegative for syphilis, 38% were HIV-positive.This trend has also been observed inBotswana, resulting in the infection beingpassed from one generation to the other. TheGovernment of Botswana noted that, in moreadvanced epidemics, stopping the spreadof HIV from one generation to another is oneof the key interventions required. Given thatprevalence rates have been found to be 4–12times higher in young females than youngmales, this means stopping the spread fromolder men to girls.Belief in witchcraft: This tends to delayproper treatment of the villagers who areinfected with fully blown HIV/AIDS. It has beenseen that when they reach the hospital it isusually too late and some of the local healersadvice them to sleep with an innocent baby toget rid of HIV/AIDS (quoted from the Ministryof Labour).Wife’s inheritance: If a person dies of HIV/AIDS, it is customary that the younger brother‘marries’ the widow of the dead brother in orderto bring up the children. He in turn, almost7 See the World Vision website: www.wv.org.za/countries/swaziland.htm8 Alan Whiteside & Nkosinathi Ngcobo, Jane Tomlinson, & Alison Hickey (March 2003), “Whatis driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Swaziland? And what more can we do about it?” NationalEmergency Response Committee on HIV/AIDS and UNAIDS.never ensures whether the widow is infectedwith HIV, in which case his wife gets infected.Church attitudes: Some churches are stillreluctant to teach the people about HIV/AIDS.They insist that the answer to HIV/AIDS isacceptance of Christ who will empower thebeliever to abstain and live a holy life.Low level of condom use: Condoms aregenerally available in the country but theirlevel of use is low, due to widespread mythsabout them. Furthermore, in Swazi society, theyouth become sexually active early in life. In a‘knowledge, attitudes and practice’ baselinestudy conducted by Family Life Association ofSwaziland and the United Nations Children’sFund (UNICEF) in 2001, 45% of young peoplereported being sexually active and felt that 70%of their friends were also sexually active. Mostparents thought that young people engagedin early sexual activity (as evidenced by earlypregnancies).Poverty: Poverty assessment surveyscarried out by the World Bank and the UnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP) showthat 66%of Swazis live in absolute poverty. Forrural areas, the percentage of people living inabsolute poverty is even higher at 80%. Thedata show high inequalities in the distributionof income, with 10% of the population obtaining60% of the country’s income, and 90% of thepopulation receiving only 40% of the income.This ever increasing gap is indicative of highlevels of poverty in the country which arefurther exercerbated by the high rates of HIV 7 .Also, poor nutrition and bad general healthamong the people make their body’s immunesystem less able to fight infection. Therefore,the virus is more likely to gain a hold. Thereis also evidence of gender discrimination inaccess to health care, with women not alwaysgetting the medical attention or treatment thatthey need.Lack of information: A behavioural surveycarried out in 2003 8 concluded that the Swazipeople are highly knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS/STIs, even though this knowledge has nottranslated into desirable behavioural change.As a result, there is a need for clarificationabout protection from HIV, update on provisionstargeting young people, efforts at demystifyingpopular myths to avoid stigmatization amongpeople who are inaccurately informed.Vulnerable groups: Income inequalityincreases the likelihood that poor women willbe forced into transactional sex as a survivalstrategy. Orphans and vulnerable children aremore likely to be exploited and this may includesexual exploitation and abuse. In Swaziland,youth that do not find formal employment