WUNRN
HIV/AIDS - CASH PAYMENTS HELP CUT
HIV INFECTION RATE IN YOUNG WOMEN - STUDY
Research in
Sarah Boseley, Health Editor, The Guardian – 15 February 2012
The randomised
controlled trial was carried out in one of the poorest parts of
Regular small cash payments to
girls and young women can enable them to resist the attentions of older men and
avoid HIV infection, according to a new study.
Girls and
young women are at the greatest risk of HIV infection in endemic countries. In
sub-Saharan Africa, between a quarter and a
third have the virus by the time they reach their early 20s.
But educating girls about risks
and promoting condom use has had little impact in countries where they are
struggling with poor education, low status and poverty, and where older men
with money offer one of the few ways out of financial difficulties.
A team of
researchers from the World Bank,
They recruited nearly 1,300 young
women, aged from 13 to 22, who were enrolled in school in the Zomba district of
southern
The young women were randomly
assigned, according to where they lived, either to receive between $1 and £5 a
month, with their families given between $4 and $10 a month, or to get nothing.
At the end of 18 months, the girls were tested for HIV and herpes infection.
The study, published
online by the Lancet, found that girls who had received money were less
than half as likely to have HIV as those who had not been paid – 1.25% (seven
out of 490 women) compared with 3% in the control group (17 out of 796).
While the numbers who contracted
HIV were relatively small, the researchers believe it shows a significant trend
and would make a substantial difference across the population. There was a
reduction of three-quarters in the risk of herpes, another sexually-transmitted
infection.
Half of those who were given
money got it only if they attended school, but there was no difference in the
infection rate between those and the others who were paid regardless. Nor did
the amount they and their families received make a difference.
Girls in the groups receiving
payments were more likely to be in school than the others. Condom use did not
go up, but the girls were less likely to be having sex frequently and less
likely to have a partner over the age of 25.
"The findings suggest that
financially empowering school-age girls and their families can have substantial
effects on their sexual and reproductive health," write the authors.
In a commentary also published by
the journal, Dr Nancy Padian, from the
At a cost per case of HIV averted
of $5000-$12,500 (£3,167-£7,918), paying individuals to stay healthy might seem
expensive, they say, but it is still probably cost-effective and cheaper than
putting people on antiretroviral drugs, which has been shown to reduce the risk
of HIV infection.