PREVENTIVE BEHAVIOR OF AIDS - PREVALENCE AND CONDUCTIVE FACTORS

Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS may be achieved by several different strategies : selection or reduction in the number of sexual partners, relinquishing certain sexual practices, and using condoms. 36 per cent of heterosexual men and 30 per ent of heterosexual women, who had had at least two different sexual partners during the last five years, and who were questioned in the ACSF survey claim that they had altered their behaviour, since AIDS entered into the picture. The most frequently mentioned changes are greater selectiveness and reduction in the number of sexual partners. Persons most likely to have changed their behaviour are those who do not live as a couple, those who have had a large number of partners in the past, and those who admit having suffered from a sexuality transmitted disease. Apart from those who have only had a single faithful (or perceived to be faithful) sexual partner, 15 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women with a single partner and 17 per cent of men and 5 per cent of women in multipartnerships say that they used condoms systematically during the last 12 months. Factors conducive to that type of the protection include the type of the new, or occasional partner and the recency of the relation. Finally, it seems, that having one or several confidants with whom very private matters can be discussed, makes people more conscious of the risk of infection and stimulates preventive behaviour.