Abstinence, Partner Reduction and Condom Use
Are All Key to Preventing HIV
- Abstaining from sex, Being faithful and using Condoms are individual behaviors, but “ABC” is also used to refer to program messages and approaches. Uganda made a comprehensive national commitment to preventing HIV and caring for infected individuals, not a specific intervention targeting A, B or C.
- Uganda adopted the ABC approach in the late 1980s. Between 1989 and 1995, HIV rates fell sharply, and Ugandans became less likely to have multiple sex partners and more likely to use condoms. Ugandan adolescents also increasingly delayed first sex.
- There is no single program model that can be exported to other countries: It takes a multipronged approach to change people’s behavior and stem the tide of the HIV epidemic.
NEWS RELEASES
EXPERT STATEMENTS
"One key to effectively halting the spread of HIV is a common understanding of what happened in Uganda," says Susheela Singh, vice president for research at the Guttmacher Institute. "Encouraging abstinence and monogamy while also providing information about and support for condom use can be a successful strategy."
"It is clear that no one-size-fits-all approach to HIV/AIDS prevention can ever succeed for all people at all times in all countries," says Susan Cohen, director of government affairs at the Guttmacher Institute. "The 'ABC' approach was effective in Uganda because it encouraged positive changes in A, B and C behaviors, all of which played a role in reducing the country’s HIV rates."
To set up an interview, contact Rebecca Wind at 212-248-1953 or rwind@guttmacher.org.
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