MUSLIM AREAS IN AFRICA HAVE LOWER RATES OF HIV INFECTION

[chamacco]

Only the bad stuff about Muslims and Islam makes headlines but never the good stuff.

MUSLIM AREAS IN AFRICA HAVE LOWER RATES OF HIV INFECTION
by AIDS Weekly, 5/3/04
Source: AIDS Weekly, 5/3/04

Islam may be linked to reduced rates of HIV infection in Africa. According to researchers in the United States, "religious constraints on sexuality may have consequences for the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. "Recognizing that several Islamic tenets may have the effect, if followed, of reducing the sexual transmission of HIV," P.B. Gray and colleagues at Harvard University tested "the hypothesis that Muslims have lower HIV prevalence than non-Muslims. "Among 38 sub-Saharan African countries, the percentage of Muslims within countries negatively predicted HIV prevalence," study data indicated. "A survey of published journal articles containing data on HIV prevalence and religious affiliation showed that six of seven such studies indicated a negative relationship between HIV prevalence and being Muslim. "Additional studies on the relationship of risk factors to HIV prevalence gave mixed evidence with respect to following Islamic sexual codes (e.g., vs. extramarital affairs) and other factors," but revealed that "benefits arising from circumcision may help account for lower HIV prevalence among Muslims," the researchers concluded.

[dimamaroc]

Can you speak french please?

[abdelhamid]

salam!

mdrr, allé jme lance moi aussi!

Indeed only bad stuff makes headlines. Im not sure i understood the final part of your speech. Do you mean that even though muslims in africa have as many extra marital relationships as non muslims, they still have lower rates of HIV infection ? and this would be due to circumcision ?

[chamacco]

No, what the article explains is that the reason behind the low rate of HIV cases is that these woman don’t DO TOO MUCH HANKY PANKY. Which means women in those areas are no like cats in season/heat like in some other places where when it comes to sex, anything comes anything goes!!. It also means that since Islam dictates that sex is not allowed outside marriage, this could play a factor in the low rate of HIV witnessed in these parts of the world!!
Does this make sense??
Yes/No????

[abdelhamid]

i already understood this part, but not the part about circumcision.

It's nonesense and stupid .Somewhere dangerous to submit such articles in a public place .If u wanna be really informed ,please click on :http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/october02_index.php?l=4


Imbecile et dangereux de soumettre de tel article de ce genre dans un forum lu par d'innombrable personnes . Pour etre vraiment informé n'hesitez pas à aller sur ce suite : http://www.salaam.co.uk/themeofthemonth/october02_index.php?l=4



Stabilization of the epidemic
Thanks to several programmes, the overall incidence of HIV infection in Africa now appears to be stabilizing. Because the long-standing African epidemic have already reached large numbers of people whose behavior makes them more vulnerable to exposure to HIV, and because effective prevention measures in some countries have enabled the general population to reduce their risk to exposure, the annual number of new infections has stabilized and even fallen in some countries. These decreases have now begun to balance out the still-rising infection rates in other parts of Africa, particularly the southern part of the continent. Overall, the total of 3.5 million infected people in 2001 was slightly less than the regional total of 3.8 million in 2000. But this trend will not continue if countries such as Nigeria begin experiencing a rapid increase.
(source:These figures are estimates at the end of 2001, published by UNAIDS in the "Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic, July 2002")