Australia--AIDS--Aborigines

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Australia--AIDS--Aborigines

Associated Press (10/15/93)

Adelaide, Australia--Because of ceremonial sharing of blood, as well as a general absence of safe sex practices, Australian aborigines are at high risk of devastation by AIDS, according to the findings of a state inquiry. HIV is spreading rapidly, and some aborigines have already died from the disease, said the report by South Australian Parliament's Social Development Committee. Alcohol abuse and the lack of "cultural sanctions against multiple sex partners" contribute to unsafe sex and transmission of the virus, stated the report. Also, in many rituals, aborigines cut themselves with a stick or rock and risk spreading the disease by sharing the cutting object, the report concluded.

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