# The high incidence of AIDS in Africa **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-incidence-of-aids-in-africa/523071 "2009-12-30T18:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-incidence-of-aids-in-africa/523071/41 "2010-01-01T20:31:56Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That argument doesn’t work for South Africa, though, where free condoms are available from any public office (not just medical ones, but licence bureau, libraries etc). Can I, er, borrow your Department of Health? Washington, D.C. has an HIV infection rate of at least 3%, and I’ve no idea where one would obtain free condoms here. (And given our poverty levels, they’d probably do some real good.) We’ve kind of got a glut of abstinence-only education here. It isn’t helping. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-incidence-of-aids-in-africa/523071/42 "2010-01-01T21:06:14Z")
I read somewhere that one part of the condom resistance, at least in some areas, comes from the fact that the first white outsiders to spread the word about AIDS were the same people who were handing out condoms, and somehow this created the erroneous connection that condoms were the _source_ of AIDS. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-incidence-of-aids-in-africa/523071/43 "2010-01-01T22:32:52Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Can I, er, borrow your Department of Health? Washington, D.C. has an HIV infection rate of at least 3%, and I’ve no idea where one would obtain free condoms here. (And given our poverty levels, they’d probably do some real good.) > > We’ve kind of got a glut of abstinence-only education here. It isn’t helping. [It appears that free condoms are available in your high schools, but your kids don’t want to use them because they don’t like the brand.](http://www.wusa9.com/news/health/story.aspx?storyid=92672&catid=28) What you have is a glut of condoms. ---
**Author:** ![justsayin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6a8cbe/32.png) [@justsayin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justsayin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-incidence-of-aids-in-africa/523071/44 "2010-01-02T00:28:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > For the love of god, WHY?!?! A Time article worth reading: “What he likes best is dry sex. In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, to please men, women sit in basins of bleach or saltwater or stuff astringent herbs, tobacco or fertilizer inside their vagina. The tissue of the lining swells up and natural lubricants dry out. The resulting dry sex is painful and dangerous for women. The drying agents suppress natural bacteria, and friction easily lacerates the tender walls of the vagina. Dry sex increases the risk of HIV infection for women, already two times as likely as men to contract the virus from a single encounter. The women, adds Chikoka, can charge more for dry sex, 50 or 60 rands ($6.46 to $7.75), enough to pay a child’s school fees or to eat for a week.” [http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/cover4.html](http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/cover4.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-incidence-of-aids-in-africa/523071.md?page=2)