PITTSBURGH (PA, USA) – Women represent more than half of those infected with HIV worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa the figure reaches 60% and such a high rate of infection occurs in a context where women’s fertility rate is also high compared to the developed world. Pregnancy is therefore a critical issue when reseearching and responding to the HIV epidemics but little is known about the impact of pregnancy on HIV transmission and results are contradictory.
However, for the first time, a research team has investigated in a large study the impact …

It has all the elements of your usual sex worker story, set in the busy alleyway of the red light district of an exotic town, a low-rise stage on which naked, sexy and sweaty bodies gyrate in the night on the sound of thumping music, a crowd of patrons eyeing at the right number, a dancer who believes that “the sex industry is like any other service-oriented profession”; but this time, the dancers are male and the patrons are female.
In a rare report for The Bangkok Post, Yvonne Bohwongprasert unveils …

From Entebbe, Uganda – The New Vision, a Uganda daily, has been a never-ending source of inspiration all week and today was no exception with the publication of two articles on bride’s and groom’s virginity at the time of tying the knot.
In all societies and since time immemorial, the bride’s virginity has been praised, sought and defended until the last minute. What was interesting in today’s articles is that they are mostly about the bride’s virginity and how important it is for the groom. Thought the second article is about …

It has been 16 years since the first female condom “FC1” was produced by The Female Health Company to help prevent pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases.
This month the FDA has approved a lower-cost version called the FC2 Female Condom made of nitrile polymer instead of polyurethane, which allows for the use of non-water based lubricants and will cost up to 30% less than the FC1.
Sales of female condom have so far been very disappointing for various reasons including cost, difficulty to use, rustling noise and marketing issues.
In this …

Disco funerals or “Disco Matanga” in Swahili is a phenomenon observed in the municipality in Nyanza Province on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, East Africa. These parties are organised at night, bring together the family of the deceased, their relatives, and are an important place for young people to hang out.
The phenomenon is poorly documented but in an article published in AIDS, Carolyne Njue and colleagues conducted 44 in-depth interviews with male and female adolescents aged 15–20 years in Kisumu and observed six disco funerals. They …