AIDS Scientists Call for Abstinence | 8th September 2010

Scientists fighting the Aids epidemic have called on African leaders to head a month-long sexual abstinence campaign, saying it would substantially reduce new infections. Alan Whiteside and Justin Parkhurst, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine cite evidence that a newly infected person is most likely to transmit HIV in the month after being exposed to it. A one month abstinence campaign could cut new transmissions by up to 45% and break the infection cycle in countries such as South Africa, where 5.7 million people live with AIDS.