Does Education Affect HIV Status? Evidence from five African Countries

Data from the first five Demographic and Health Surveys to include HIV testing for a representative sample of the adult population are used to analyze the socioeconomic correlates of HIV infection and associated sexual behavior. Emerging from a wealth of country relevant results, some important findings can be generalized. First, successive marriages are a significant risk factor. Second, contrary to prima facie evidence, education is not positively associated with HIV status. However, schooling is one of the most consistent predictors of behavior and knowledge: education level predicts protective behaviors such as condom use, use of counseling and testing, discussion of AIDS between spouses, and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, but it also predicts a higher level of infidelity and a lower level of abstinence.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	de Walque, Damien
Format:	Journal Article biblioteca
Published:	World Bank 2009-06-30
Subjects:	abstinence, adult population, aids epidemic, antenatal care, condom, condom use, epidemic, female genital mutilation, HIV, HIV infection, marital status, polygamy, pregnant women, prevention efforts, risk factors, sexual behavior, sexual behaviors, spouses, urban population,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4501
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