HIV rate way down thanks to condoms

The rate at which South Africans contracted HIV fell by 30 percent between 2000 and 2008, mostly due to increased condom use, according to a new study published in the Royal Society journal "Interface" last month.

The study was conducted by an actuarial scientist and epidemiologist from the University of Cape Town, an expert from the Human Sciences Research Council and another from the department of infectious disease epidemiology at London's Imperial College.

One of the study's authors, Leigh Johnson, of the university's school of public health, said that the study used mathematical models to work out what is contributing to the significant decrease in HIV infections. The evidence links condom use to the 30 percent decrease in the rate of infection and finds that advertising campaigns played a role in encouraging condom use. The increases in reported condom use coincided with the introduction of HIV education programmes.

Johnson said that the results of the study are important because there has been increasing scepticism about donating money to programmes that encourage condom use and behaviour change - such as being tested or reducing the number of sexual partners. He said it is often easier to get funding for bio-medical interventions that are measurable, such as medical circumcisions.

Katharine Child: The Times, 14 February 2012