Morality, Behavioural Change and the Search for a ‘Social Vaccine’

Abstract

In the absence of an HIV/AIDS vaccine, and against a complex sociopolitical and economic backdrop, endeavours to formulate a successful strategy to stay the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa have varied considerably. At one end of the spectrum lie responses based on faith — either traditional Christian or Islamic values of sexual morality or in similarly traditional African medicine (Chapter 5), all of which can be at odds with the Western biomedical approach. Largely successful efforts by Western governments to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst homosexual populations in the US and Europe have tended to focus on the disease as a medical issue. Efforts have concentrated on interventions that reduce the chance of exposure by those most at risk of contracting HIV/ AIDS. Campaigns centring on the use of condoms and ‘safer-sex’ have been hallmarks of such drives. However, as the rampant spread of HIV/ AIDS during the past three decades attests, the safer-sex approach has been notably less successful in sub-Saharan Africa, prompting calls for a re-examination of the safer-sex model’s suitability for the region. In particular, Christian faith-based organizations (FBOs) have long pressed for an alternative approach based on a focus on behavioural change, in effect a ‘social vaccine’.