Shabeens: The New Brothels?

A recent report surveying the AIDS prevalence in Lüderitz has suggested that there is a concrete link between the location of shebeens and areas with a high density of HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Student Epidemiologist Brooke Nichols conducted research on the impact that alcohol consumption can have on the level of people with HIV/AIDS whilst visiting Lüderitz last winter. Using data from the Ministry of Health to indicate the spread of HIV/AIDS victims, and her own research on the location and number of bars, bottle stores and shebeens in Lüderitz, Nichols was able to conclude that areas containing one or more shebeen tended to have a significantly higher prevalence of the disease.

Nichols found that in places with less than 1 shabeen per 100 people the relative risk of developing HIV is 1.52, meaning that those living in a neighbourhood with a medium amount of shabeens makes one 52% more likely to contract HIV than those living in a neighbourhood with no shabeens. Furthermore areas containing more than 1 shabeen per 100 people had a relative risk of 1.87; in other words those people living in areas with a high number of shabeens were 87% more likely to have HIV than people living in neighbourhoods with no shabeens.

In addition Nichols also discovered that, whilst the HIV risk for men was high, it was much higher for women which she suggests is partially due to the problem of prostitution and ‘sugar daddying’ and partially due to the fact that the majority of migrants to Lüderitz are men with high HIV rates who constantly pass through the town, leaving the, largely static, female population under constant exposure to a high risk male population.

Interestingly the research did not find a correlation between bars and bottle stores to HIV prevalence suggesting that it is the informal layout and casual opening hours of shebeens that provoke such high levels of alcohol abuse and the unprotected sexual behaviour that it can lead to.

Whilst it is obviously difficult to control and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, this research indicates that there are some measures that could be taken to reduce the number of people being infected by the disease, the most obvious of these being simply to reduce the number of shebeens in Lüderitz. Failing this however, Nichols also suggests providing free condoms and HIV pamphlets in shebeens and heavier policing of shebeen opening hours.

However, as with many developmental problems, the solution must come from a change in social attitudes at a grass roots level and responsible drinking and protected sex must be accepted as the norm before any major change can take place.

Nichols will be presenting her findings at a HIV conference in Cape Town this winter and her abstract is being published in the Journal for the International AIDS Society, and Reviews in Antiviral Therapy.