British South Africa

The nations of southern Africa have placed a heavy emphasis on HIV/AIDS knowledge and disclosure. Botswana, for instance, proposed legislation in 2000 to make not disclosing one’s HIV status a criminal act. Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland have placed a heavy emphasis on HIV testing and counselling, door to door visits, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment packages. South Africa, after some warranted criticism, pushed to make ARV treatments more accessible as well as boost research into microbicides and vaccines.

Granted, this is the official, governmental approach. The public, of course, lacks the medical knowledge or understanding when it comes to the disease itself. People in rural areas especially are not going to understand how prevention works because of their lack of education. For this reason, stories are created with a basis in superstition or religion that results in somewhat radical approaches to problems. For example, mandatory sterilizations of HIV patients was proposed in Swaziland. South African’s, believing virginity to be the only sure fire way to spread HIV proposed virginity testing. There was also a rumor in Swaziland that led people to believe having sex with a virgin would rid you of HIV. This, of course, resulted in the further spreading of HIV and the harm of some young girls.