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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
23:56
Comprehensive & Cost Effective Laboratory Monitoring of HIV/AIDS: an African Role Model
Published on: October 31, 2010
Concurrent partnerships and HIV: an inconvenient truth.
Helen Epstein1, Martina Morris
1Departments of Sociology and Statistics, Box 354322 University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-4322, USA. helenepstein@yahoo.com
Journal of the International AIDS Society
|March 17, 2011
Summary
Concurrent sexual partnerships significantly drive HIV epidemics in Southern Africa. Further research is crucial to evaluate prevention interventions and understand behavioral obstacles to reduce HIV transmission.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- High rates of concurrent sexual partnerships are recognized as a major driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa.
- Previous conclusions by UNAIDS and SADC highlight concurrency alongside low male circumcision and condom use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate a recent "systematic review" that challenged the evidence linking concurrency to HIV epidemic severity.
- To assert the ongoing importance of research into concurrent partnerships and HIV prevention.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of existing research on concurrency and HIV transmission.
- Critique of methodological and factual errors in a specific "systematic review".
- Identification of the nascent stage of prevention-oriented research on concurrency.
Main Results:
- The "systematic review" by Sawers and Stillwaggon is deemed an inaccurate summary with factual errors.
- Prevention interventions for concurrency are recent, with limited evaluations and no randomized-controlled trials.
Conclusions:
- Research on concurrent partnerships remains vital for understanding HIV epidemic drivers.
- Further investigation is needed to assess the effectiveness of concurrency awareness interventions and identify behavioral obstacles to prevention.
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