FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2003

Namibia Research Shows Most Youth Don't Understand the Terms "Abstinence" or "Faithfulness" for HIV Prevention

WINDHOEK, Namibia - Terms used to describe some HIV prevention strategies-such as "abstinence" or "faithfulness"-are not understood by a large majority of young adults in Namibia, a country where current HIV/AIDS prevalence is approximately 22 percent.

The study of 100 Greater Windhoek youth, ages 15 to 25, revealed that common HIV/AIDS prevention terms are frequently misunderstood. Most young people believe that "abstinence" means "to be absent" and "faithfulness" means faith in a religious sense, not being faithful to one sexual partner. The word "monogamy" is understood by only one-quarter, with 75 percent saying they had never heard the word.

In partnership with the University of Namibia through support by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers from Research Facilitation Services in Windhoek and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) conducted the qualitative study to determine the effect of culture and environment on youth behavior. The study provides information for the development of an innovative, community-driven, radio magazine program to address lifestyle issues for youth called "The Suzie and Shafa Show," to be broadcast this fall.

"These findings are important as we develop an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy for Namibian youth," said C. Kirk Lazell, USAID Health Officer in Namibia. "We know we have to craft a program and messages that are sensitive to the issue of language, testing messages in local languages, to ensure young people have a clear understanding of HIV transmission and prevention."

Because of mass media programs, young adults know about using condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS, but some are afraid or unwilling to discuss condoms and are perhaps not using them properly or consistently. For example, one male respondent reported abstinence as his preference and was unwilling to talk about condoms because it is against his Christian faith to have sex before marriage. The study further showed that most young adults were profoundly influenced by the mass media and that the church is a major social and support organization for them.

CCP's work in Namibia is part of the Health Communication Partnership (HCP), a global communication initiative designed to promote evidence-based and innovative approaches, build capacity, and bring programs to scale. HCP is led by CCP in partnership with the Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and the University of North Carolina's Carolina Population Center at Chapel Hill.

With representatives in more than 30 countries, CCP is a pioneer in the field of strategic, research-based communication for behavior change and health promotion that helped transform the theory and practice of public health communication. The Bloomberg School of Public Health established CCP in 1988 to focus attention on the central role of communication in health behavior and to provide leadership in the field of behavior change communication.

Final Report: In-Depth Interviews: The Effect of Culture and Environment on the Behaviour of Namibian Youth (May 2003)

For further information contact: Nahum Gorelick (Namibia) 247 950 or Kim Martin at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6140; Fax: 410 659-6266 e-mail: press@jhuccp.org.