PRESS BRIEFING BY DIRECTOR, UN POPULATION DIVISION

Enormous behavioural change in the reproductive sexual practices of men and women was needed to deal with the increasing consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Director of the United Nations Population Division told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

Describing the major findings of a new United Nations publication entitled HIV/AIDS:  Awareness and Behaviour, Joseph Chamie said that while awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic had increased, behaviour remained risky. 

The launch of the publication by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs marked the one-year anniversary of the General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS, Mr. Chamie said.  The study focused on data from Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 39 developing countries.  The surveys were carried out primarily in Africa but also in Asia and Latin America.  The data were collected throughout the late 1990s and reflected situations of some years ago.  Data dealing with the HIV/AIDS issue were generally sensitive and required careful interpretation. 

Despite the fact that people were aware of HIV/AIDS, they did not perceive a great risk in contracting the disease, Mr. Chamie said.  The new study confirmed the existence of a gap in awareness and behaviour between urban and rural areas and between men and women.  The single most important source of information on HIV/AIDS was the radio.  More data on the HIV/AIDS epidemic would be available in the coming weeks.  It was his hope that the study would contribute to the debate, discussion and movement towards dealing with the epidemic.

Were there any indications that attitudes had changed more dramatically in the last few years? a correspondent asked.  Mr. Chamie said it was his impression that attitudes were changing.  There had been some bahavioural changes, especially among men, such as reducing the number of sexual partners and using condoms.  More surveys and data were needed to look into such changes, however.  The data looked promising, although the rates were low in terms of changing reproductive sexual behaviour.  While he hoped to be getting more information in the next couple weeks, the new publication went a long way in compiling more than three dozen surveys in the late 1990s and would serve as a benchmark. 

The information contained in the publication had been compiled from household interviews with women, he added.  While they had been trying to interview men, the majority of those surveyed were women.  It was one thing to ask someone a question about apparel, for example, but another thing to ask sensitive questions about reproductive sexual behaviour.  Gathering more information over time would result in more accurate interpretations.  As a demographer he had a large appetite for data and looked forward to receiving more surveys.

In response to a question on the price of HIV/AIDS medications, Mr. Chamie said that while he was not a medical doctor, he understood that there were

increasing movements to decrease the cost of treatment.  Finding a cure, however, was still far off.  At the current time, the emphasis was on prevention.  The issue of treatment would be addressed at several international meetings taking place in the coming weeks.

Regarding the policy implications of the study, a correspondent asked what other steps could be taken to encourage changes in behaviour.  Mr. Chamie said the key was how to change behaviour.  Public awareness, a pragmatic approach and commitment from leaders was needed.  Such commitment could be seen from the General Assembly, the Millennium Summit's focus on AIDS and the Secretary-General's emphasis on ensuring that people everywhere knew how to avoid infection.  More research on how to effectively change behaviour was needed.  People needed to be informed about the risks.  Clear messages on issues such as treatment and mother-to-child transmission were needed.  Things had gotten off to a slow start in the 1980s.  While there was some momentum now, many of the current efforts had to be accelerated to emphasize prevention.

Responding to a question on female condom use, Mr. Chamie said the primary emphasis in the study had been on prophylactic use of condoms by males.  While there had been some research on how to increase the use of the female condom, that had not been the emphasis of the publication.  In terms of awareness and behaviour, there had been very high awareness in many of the African countries especially, but limited risk perception, which was troubling.  He was hoping that would change so that people could avoid infection from the outset.

Responding to a question on the availability of data from the developed countries, where the infection rates were much lower, Mr. Chamie said the developed countries had not been included in the study.  Ways of spreading the disease were very different in the developed countries.  In a large number of the developed countries, infection was the result of homosexual activities and drug use.  In the African context, the disease was being spread largely through heterosexual transmission.  Sometimes people changed their behaviour only to become lax again and let their behaviour slide in terms of precaution.  In terms of prevalence, the levels were much higher in sub-Saharan Africa.

Had surveys been conducted in any of the Eastern European countries? a correspondent asked.  While the publication did not include surveys from Eastern Europe, there were some troubling signs in some of the Eastern European countries, he replied.  Colleagues from the Population Division could point to some of the surveys from that region. 

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General said that in his recent visits to Ukraine and the Russian Federation the Secretary-General had met with active and well-organized non-governmental organizations.  There seemed to be a growing perception of the dimensions of the problem as well as eagerness on the part of citizens to deal with the issue.   

Mr. Chamie said that the study, which had already been released in English, would soon be available in French.  The study could be accessed in both languages on the Population Division's Web site, www.unpopulation.org.

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