The HIV rebound nobody is discussing

published on November 5, 2013 in PBS News Hour

Is an AIDS-free generation on the horizon? Not without the help of sex workers and other marginalized "key populations," public health officials say.

The world needs more prostitutes like Hawa Abdallah. At least that’s what many public health officials believe.

There’s something about the 25-year-old -- the harsh angle of her eyebrows, the way her red lipstick contrasts with the dirty walls, the cold stare she directs at passing men -- that says she’s in control. Abdallah has sex with as many as 20 men every day in a brothel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city, where 1 in 20 residents and 1 in 3 sex workers are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

But a series of simple steps have kept Abdallah healthy until now: She knows how HIV spreads. She is tested regularly. And she’s confident enough to insist that her customers use condoms every time. Just as importantly, she’s managed to avoid the assault, arbitrary arrest and extortion that plague the profession. Health officials say that unless more prostitutes start fitting a similar profile, the world doesn’t stand a chance at beating back the virus.

Jason Kane
PBS News Hour
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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.