AFRICA:
[& the World in General]
Cash in Hand keeps HIV at Bay
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JOHANNESBURG, 23 July 2010 (PlusNews) – Giving young women small, regular cash payments can reduce their dependence on sexual relationships with older men, which also lowers their HIV risk, according to a new study by the World Bank.
Show me the Money
“We do need to get the incentive right – if it’s too small, it may not produce the results we want; if it’s too big, it may not be sustainable,” Wilson commented.
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In the course of a year, the rate of STIs among those who were rewarded with $20 for negative test results fell by 25 percent, but stayed the same among those who only received $10 for negative test results. |
In the course
“This isn’t about pitting cash transfers
against behaviour change programmes
… we need multiple approaches.”
Malawi’s southeastern Zomba district, where the survey took place, has high rates of poverty and HIV – up to 22 percent, compared to a national prevalence of about 12 percent – but the study found that 18 months of cash transfers, with or without conditions attached, decreased the participants’ risk of HIV infection by 60 percent.
“The study has shown that girls who have a modest amount of income … maybe don’t decrease their number of sexual partners, but do choose to have safer sexual partners or those closer to their own age, and maybe based on emotional attachment rather than financial need,” the World Bank’s newly appointed director of HIV and AIDS programmes, Dr David Wilson, told IRIN/PlusNews.
It was the first large-scale, rigorous study proving that cash transfers can have a significant impact on HIV infection, which had previously only been shown in small, observational studies. “The study really does suggest a case in which cash transfers give women agency,” Wilson said.
The study also showed that women who received some kind of cash transfer – whether to themselves, their families, or in the form of school fees – had a 75 percent reduced risk of genital herpes. Nearly 4,000 young women between the ages of 13 and 22 years took part in the “Schooling, Income and HIV Risk” (SIHR) study, some of whom were given up to US$10 in cash each month, while others had their school fees paid.
Researchers attributed the decline in HIV and genital herpes risk to delayed sexual debut, reduced sexual activity, and the choice of younger male partners, who were less likely to harbour sexually transmitted infections. However, the transfers did not increase the likelihood of condom use.
A Celebration of Women
truly believes that “Micro-loans” to Women around the World will save on many other areas of Life’s Challenges; including HIV, food shortages, general health, resource development and all other areas of existence.
