U.N. report: Culture affects HIV spread

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (UPI) -- Cultural factors in Africa, such as wife inheritance, need to be addressed if HIV prevention is to be more effective, U.N. officials said.

The report, issued Monday by the U.N. Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, calls for serious "discussion and action" on cultural issues that many societies find uncomfortable and challenging, but which determine the spread of HIV.

The report said married women are at a high risk of contracting HIV when cultural norms condone male promiscuity or patriarchal control of a married couple's sexual activities.

The report also argued that while some cultural norms and practices can fuel HIV transmission, others can have a positive impact.

"For example, male circumcision, practiced for centuries in some cultures, has been found to decrease the risk of HIV transmission in men," the report said.

Challenging another assumption, the report said that although polygamy has been thought to be one of the major factors promoting the spread of HIV in Africa, the findings were inconsistent. For example, in Ghana, the prevalence of HIV infection was lowest in the north, where 44 percent of marriages are polygamous.

The report was released to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly's High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, which begins Tuesday in New York.