PRNewswire - December 20, 2006

The Co-Chairs of the symposium are Dr. Edward Green, Harvard University's School of Public Health; Dr. Samuel Luboga, Makerere University; and Rt. Rev. Dr. Davic Zac Niringiye, Anglican Church of Uganda. The Symposium was sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, and included religious leaders, policy makers, government leaders, and historians.

Findings

1. In every example of falling AIDS prevalence rates in Africa, there has been significant declines in casual, multi-partner sex in the previous years. Thus, when more men and women practice mutual fidelity, national AIDS prevalence rates fall.

2. Abstinence works, and should be promoted. It works best as part of a broader character formation effort that includes teaching skills in forming friendships, understanding peer pressures, fostering self respect and respect for others, what it means to fall in love, what it means to take responsibility for one's own behavior, and how certain actions and decisions can have life-long consequences.

3. Regarding condoms, two problems that emerged in Ugandan and African studies are: 1) Inconsistency of use, and 2) Acquiring a false sense of security that results in more risky behavior.

4. Poverty is not associated with infection rates in the way usually thought. Often it is the wealthier segments of population that have higher HIV infection rates. This may be influenced by a variety of factors such as greater mobility, more disposable income for alcohol and recreation, and residence in urban areas. This can lead to a greater number of sex partners and higher risks of infection.

5. Collaboration with community groups is important to the fight against AIDS. In Uganda, faith-based organizations (FBOs) play an important role and are best positioned to promote health care and education. In addition, women's and men's associations, care groups, youth organizations, traditional healers, and their local media need to work with governmental leadership to foster new norms of sexual behavior.

Dr. Edward Green stated that, "HIV prevalence appears to be starting to rise again after years of decline. This may be caused by less emphasis on messages stressing the importance of fidelity and more focus on condom promotion and other risk reduction solutions. If this is true, this is tragic and needs to be acknowledged and addressed immediately -- a growing body of research from Africa demonstrates that relying on condoms alone will not reduce HIV infection rates in Africa."

Green then remarked that, "Loving faithfully and zero grazing were the main messages for most Ugandans in the earlier national prevention program of the late 1980's and early 1990's; it is less strong now and it appears HIV prevalence may be starting to rise again after years of decline."

One resolution and recommendation coming from the symposium states that, "Condoms should not be the dominant intervention for the general populations of Africa, in line with scientific evidence to date." Dr. Green noted that, "A simple homegrown African approach works better than the international medical/technical approach in terms of prevention. It is low cost, low tech, sustainable and culturally acceptable."

Participants included: Dr. Tom Kenyon, Deputy Director of the U.S. President's Emergency Program For AIDS Relief; Dr. Sam Okware, Ugandan Ministry of Health; Nsaba Buturo, Ugandan Minister of Ethics and Integrity; Dr. Norman Hearst, Professor and Research Fellowship Director, University of California, San Francisco; Saifuddin Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health Services, Johns Hopkins University; and Sister Miriam Duggan, Congregational Leader, Irish Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa.

This symposium was funded through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. For more information about the programs of the Templeton Foundation visit http://www.templeton.org . A complete list of symposium attendees and papers is available at http://ugandasymposium.jot.com/WikiHome

SOURCE John Templeton Foundation

http://www.templeton.org

http://ugandasymposium.jot.com/WikiHome

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