HIV-1 and AIDS Awareness in a Marginalised Namibian Community

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

HIV-1 and AIDS Awareness in a Marginalised Namibian Community

Lancet (10/18/97) Vol. 350, No. 9085, P. 1180
Brenzinger, Matthias; Harms, Gundel

Abstract: Through community interaction and cooperation with local leadership, a linguist was able to implement an AIDS education program in the Kxoe community of Namibia. In a letter to the editor in the Oct. 18 issue of the Lancet, Matthias Brezinger and Gundel Harms describe the 1996 AIDS control project, which used knowledge of the Kxoe culture and language to create a storyboard system used to convey information regarding HIV transmission and disease progression to a population with a 95 percent illiteracy rate. The Caprivi region, in which the Kxoe live, has the highest HIV seroprevalence in Namibia at 24 percent. Construction of the Trans-Caprivi highway and widespread alcohol abuse have contributed to societal factors that facilitate the spread of HIV. The educational program created an understanding of AIDS within the Kxoe society as a "sleeping around" disease and, the authors hope, fostered a spirit of community in the population.

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