Results
The study found that alcohol consumption, socioeconomic status, educational attainment and age are factors that put certain groups at higher risk of HIV infection. The study found strong effects of AIDS on household dissolution. Women with HIV whose husbands were uninfected faced a higher risk of separation and divorce than women in uninfected households or in households where both female and male partners were infected. Elderly women also face social stigma and isolation as a result of either living with HIV/AIDS themselves or caring for an individual who has the virus as well as financial difficulties on household welfare. Children with mothers who are infected with HIV appear to face threats to survival even while the mother remains alive.
Conclusion
INDEPTH member centres have tracked the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. They have analysed how the virus is transmitted, how and where it emerged, which groups are most affected, and how the virus impacts families, communities and economies. The robust and extensive data they have generated provide critical insights to policy-makers as the epidemic moves into its fourth decade.