At first blush : examining adolescent-centered HIV/AIDS preventative education in South Africa

Abstract

The search by most individuals in South Africa for a healthy sexuality comes with recognizing that HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death. As such, their lives, the relationships that they establish and their efforts to maintain a healthy balance have changed dramatically. Disappointingly, the epidemiological trends, policy developments and social realities surrounding these efforts have not addressed sufficiently the structural deficiencies inherent within gender relationships, equal opportunity and the right to be healthy. Nowhere is this more the case than among adolescent and female populations.

This thesis argues that preventative education is one of the most important means of ensuring successful reduction in future infection patterns and that it must be participatory in nature. It is also argued that there is a need for expanding the role of education in disease prevention with the goal of ensuring gender equality and the meaningful inclusion of marginalized groups (such as adolescents) in future programming. At issue here is the need to consider the individualized nature of sexual choice making rather than through over-arching and over-generalized themes.