A Failure of HIV Education: Sex Can Be More Important than a Long Life

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Abstract
Recent studies have found that most young people are knowledgeable about AIDS and safer-sex practices, yet many continue to practice high-risk sexual behaviors. This study proposes that AIDS prevention programs have underestimated young persons' motivation for sex. To determine the importance of sex to young adults, university undergraduates and nightclub patrons were asked if they would accept an opportunity to engage in sex with unlimited sexual partners as frequently as desired if they knew it would result in death by AIDS after two or 10 years. Of 1247 individuals in the sample, 22.7, percent responded other than “definitely no.” There was no significant difference between the form offering two years of unlimited sexual partners and that offering 10 years. Responses other than “definitely no” were most frequent for individuals who reported already having had more than 10 lifetime sexual partners. Sexuality and HIV education only slightly reduced the percentage of non-negative responses. It is concluded that HIV prevention programs that advise limitation of sexual partners will have little impact on a sizeable minority of the population. For this group, promotion of condom use and other safer-sex practices that do not limit sexual opportunities should be emphasized in curtailing the spread of HIV.