Does life skills training help young people to prevent HIV acquisition and transmission?
A new paper suggests that there is little evidence that it does. Attached.
But young people may enjoy the classes.
[him] moderator
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Life-skills training helps young people to prevent HIV in Myanmar
Sandar Linn
KYAING TONG, Myanmar, 29 December 2008 – In the village of Wan Ku Thit, a remote Ah Khar ethnic group enclave in Kyaing Tong Township, eastern Shan State, very few people are aware of the risk of HIV and how to prevent AIDS.
El May Ja, 19, is one of many in her village who, until recently, did not have a lot of prior knowledge about HIV.
“My family, my friends, my neighbours and even the head of our village don't know these things,” she said. “Although we have heard about HIV/AIDS, because there are some people in other villages who went to work in border areas and came back as they got infected with HIV, we have not received any in-depth information about it.”
Learning life skills
At a recent UNICEF-supported life-skills training programme, about 30 young people aged 15 to 24 learned about HIV and AIDS.
“Today is the second day of our training,” explained El May Ja. “Now we know exactly how the virus is transmitted, how we can protect ourselves.... We are going to learn more about life skills in the next three days, and I’m so excited about that.”
Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Among the lessons that were taught so far, El May Ja cited the topic ‘Value Myself’ as her favourite.
“The tradition and culture is already in place for girls to value themselves, and one of the major facts is to abstain from having sexual relations until one gets married. But the knowledge from this training adds more value to this,” she said.
Peer groups teach prevention
For effective HIV prevention, skills such as critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving and communication are essential to help young people adopt safer behaviours. Ten core skills, including empathy, are embedded in the health-related topics so that after training, the participants are able to show more supportive attitudes toward people living with HIV.
Following the life-skills training, participants are encouraged to share their newly gained knowledge with their peer groups so that it benefits the wider community.
“We discuss these things outside training,” El May Ja said, standing with a group of her friends. “We also talk about HIV and life-skills lessons that we have learnt so far with our friends from other villages, where they don't get this information. We enjoy learning life skills because it is important in our daily lives to know what is harmful to us.”
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/myanmar_46969.html
Thanks for your comment, Mr Alam. There is almost no evidence that VCT prevents HIV acquisition or transmission except in serodiscordant couples. VCT is best seen as an entry point to care rather than an activity for HIV prevention.
AIDS: Dark in Life
-Mohammad Khairul Alam-
-Executive Director-
-Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation-
-24/3 M. C. Roy Lane-
-Dhaka-1211, Bangladesh-
-Email: rainbowngo@gmail.com-
-Web: http://www.newsletter.com.bd
-Tell: 880-2-8628908-
-Mobile: 88-01711344997-
The Asian HIV/AIDS epidemic is highly dynamic. Though, in the early 1980s when the HIV/AIDS epidemic was becoming significant in the Western Hemisphere and Africa, only a few cases of HIV infection were reported in Asia. The risky behaviour and vulnerability, which promote, fuel and facilitate the rapid transmission of HIV, are present in virtually all countries of the Asian region. Thus, the potential for its further spread is significant. Based on evidence from various causes, behaviours that produce the highest risk of infection in this region are unprotected sex (both heterosexual and homosexual) and needle sharing among intravenous drug users (IDUs). However, the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Asia took a new turn in the 1990s. It is spreading faster in parts of Asia than in other regions of the world. Some have predicted that the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this region in the twenty-first century could be much worse.
Trafficking in young girls, children and women is a matter of great concern all over the world. In South Asia, cross-border trafficking, sourcing, transit to destination is a big problem. Even more prevalent is the movement of persons within the countries for exploitation in various forms. There are no definite figures about the number of victims.
Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation is the most virulent form in South Asia. Internal displacement due to conflict in some of these countries, poverty and lack of employment opportunities, increase the vulnerabilities to being trafficked.
AIDS researcher Mr. Anirudha Alam said, "Trafficking & HIV/AIDS is interrelated, especially women and girls are trafficking for use of sexual industry. Most of trafficking girls would face several physical & sexual abuses. When a girl or women newly enrolls a sex industry, she tries to safe herself heard & soul, but most of the time they couldn't free her."
Though this data is not enough to certify the fact, still South Asia is home to one of the largest concentrations of people living with HIV. Female sex workers (FSWs) - as a group - are an important driver of the epidemic. As has been shown in a very recent research involving repatriated FSWs in Nepal, many of the FSWs who have been trafficked are at a significantly higher risk than "average" women of contracting HIV. The Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation conducted a survey that focuses on the attitude, behavior and practice of FSWs in Goalondo Brothel, this study points out that almost 53% of sex workers enter the profession before the age of 20 years, and 30% enter between 20 to 25 years of age, and some of them have been entangled through instigation of the traffickers.
The spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia is expected to accelerate if Governments fail to act with a sense of urgency, and if preventive action is taken too little or too late. In this regard, the Monitoring the AIDS Pandemic Study has warned that the recent increase in HIV prevalence in specific locations in Asia should be regarded as a serious warning of more widespread epidemics. It is also significant to recognize that HIV/AIDS cases are often underreported. Asia is lacking in providing a comprehensive system of complete range of voluntary counseling with testing (VCT) services. However, governments and some NGOs have developed some VCT centers in several regoin in their countries. Though insufficient in number, the initiative is praiseworthy.
The risk factors for HIV/AIDS infection is at an upsetting level in Bangladesh. Being a low prevalence country, containing the epidemic in the early stage is very essential. The Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services for HIV is now acknowledged within the international arena as an efficacious and pivotal strategy for both HIV/AIDS prevention and care. The need for VCT is increasingly compelling as HIV infection rates continue to rise, and many countries recognised the need for their populations to know their sero-status as an important prevention and intervention tool. However, access to VCT services in Bangladesh like many developing countries is limited. Many people are still very reluctant to be tested for HIV. This reluctance is the result of barriers to VCT, which are: stigma, gender inequalities and lack of perceived benefit.
The consequences of HIV/AIDS can be far-reaching for young people. Not only does HIV disease have terrible consequences for the individual, causing serious illness and eventual death, it has the potential to trigger negative social reactions. Across the world, people with HIV/AIDS routinely experience discrimination, stigmatization and ostracization.
References: CARE, World Bank, UNAIDS.