Associations between alcohol misuse and risks for HIV infection among men who have multiple female sexual partners

A study consisting of men between the ages 25-55 has found that men who consume large uncontrolled amounts of alcohol pose a much higher risk of transmitting HIV to their spouses than those who consume alcohol moderately.

The MRC’s Health Systems Research Unit (HSRU), together with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Unit (ADARU) conducted the study on 848 men in two peri urban areas in the outskirts of Cape Town’s shebeens, pubs and taverns.

“These men tend to have a warped idea of their masculinity, their ego and act, not through their confidence but their insecurities when drunk,” says Loraine Townsend from HSRU.

Townsend says the men claim to have two or three partners so that there is always one to fall back on when in need. She adds that alcohol was an integral part of the men’s social lives and that shebeens offered an environment in which to consume uncontrolled amounts of alcohol and meet new sexual partners.

“The only people who can stop this are the bar owners who are supposed to restrict people from getting too drunk but it is impossible considering the huge amount of money they can lose. The least they could also do is place condoms in bathrooms. The government also needs to enforce some policy and legislation in strengthening sexual education, condom use and mixing drugs with alcohol in public places of drinking,” says Townsend.

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Contact persons at MRC:

Ms Keletso Ratsela
South African Medical Research Council (MRC)
+27 82 804 8883

Mr Olwethu Ndoni
South African Medical Research Council (MRC)
+27 21 938 0840