Concurrent Partnerships Examined in African Study

"In one of the first studies to investigate multiple concurrent partnerships (MCPs) among African [men who have sex with men] MSM, just over half of the 537 men surveyed in Malawi, Namibia and Botswana reported that they had had sex with both men and women in the last six months, and about a third of these men reported that the relationships had been concurrent," IRIN/PlusNews reports, also noting that "MCPs have been identified as a main driver of the HIV epidemic in southern Africa." Gift Trapence of Malawi's Centre for the Development of People said, "[T]hese issues have never been involved in our HIV prevention work ... When we try to design these programmes, we need to look at all the sexual behaviours [of men]." According to IRIN/PlusNews, he also "said a larger, population-based study was planned to explore the findings" (8/16).

Back to other news for August 2010