Share & more
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS have maintained that unsafe sexual practices were still the main cause of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa.
In a report launched on Friday, the two UN health bodies dismissed recent reports suggesting that medical practices, particularly unsafe injections, may be responsible for the overwhelming majority of HIV infections in the region.
The report highlighted that children aged between 5 and 14, who are generally not yet sexually active, have very low infection rates and that infection rates among young women and men strongly follow patterns of sexual behaviour.
"While a combination of prevention measures are required to tackle all modes of HIV transmission, safer sex promotion must remain the primary feature of prevention programmes in the region. There is no consistent association between higher HIV rates and lower injection safety standards," the report noted.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions