Abstract
The aim and of this article is to discuss the panacea and perfidy of cultures as a platform of positive behaviour change; as well as a deterrent to achieving HIV/AIDS/STI prevention objectives. Cultures can be a panacea through: exploiting rites of passage; using music, poetry and drama; using traditional leadership in the HIV/AIDS dissemination; strengthening cultural mores and taboos on sex; and exploiting languages to mainstream HIV/AIDS messages. Cultures can also be perfidious through: using it to oppress female gender empowerment; strengthening beliefs in unscientific and untested medical therapies; discouraging the use of condom; condoning wife inheritance; strengthening religions that are anti-prevention; giving traditional medical practitioners a platform to hide and give misleading HIV/AIDS messages; and condoning multiple and concurrent partnership (MCP). The article recommends the following: policy makers, behavioural change architects to take advantage of the immense social capital embedded in cultures and use it as a thrust for positive behavioural change; staging immense advocacy and lobbying mechanism to resuscitate positive prevention friendly aspects of cultures; and discarding aspects of cultures that are prevention unfriendly; and endeavour to make them human rights compliant. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n14p504
Highlights
As HIV/AIDS continue to pose both health and developmental challenges in developing countries, and the pursuit to look for a cure through immense experimentation process, the appropriate answer in this researcher’s opinion remains and could be located on meaningful behaviour change (Ramphele, 2008; Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), 2007)
The following aspects of culture have largely been perfidious as they: encourage gender inequality making women’s negotiation for safer sex practices with men difficult; encourage the use and profound belief in unscientific and untested therapies; discourage or weakens the use of modern prevention methodologies such as the use of condoms; condone risky practices such as wife inheritance; strengthens some religions that are against the use of ARVs; offer an opportunity for traditional medical practitioners to hide under the cultural lenses to give misleading messages on ways to tackle HIV/AIDS
5.2 Cultural forces strengthens patriarchy that impedes the process of gender equality and equity
Summary
The article, based on literature review, offers debate, discourse, and is a discursive platform to emphasize the importance of some aspects of culture that aid in strengthening prevention against STI such as HIV/AIDS; as well as identifying cultural aspects that could be weakening prevention. It has identified and interrogated aspects of culture or its environment that compromise prevention efforts of STIs and HIV/AIDS
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