title: Why do men often not use condoms in their relationships with casual sexual partners in Uganda?
abstract: With a focus on Uganda, this paper examines men's condom use in sexual relationships with casual partners and what this might tell us about men's vulnerability to HIV-infection. We carried out repeat interviews with 31 men attending a clinic serving women at high risk for HIV infection and their partners in Kampala. We found that the experience of condom-less sex in the men's youth, itself the outcome of a restrictive home environment, was perceived as influencing later unsafe sexual behaviour. Peer pressure encouraged men to have multiple partners. Alcohol negatively affected condom use. Men often opted not to use a condom with women they thought looked healthy, particularly if they had had sex with the same woman before. Some men who were HIV-positive said they saw little point in using condoms since they were already infected. A concerted effort is required to reach men, like those in our study, to halt HIV and the transmission of other sexually transmitted infections.
authors.affiliation: a MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS , Entebbe , Uganda.
authors.forename: Rwamahe
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rutakumwa
authors.affiliation: a MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS , Entebbe , Uganda.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mbonye
authors.affiliation: a MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS , Entebbe , Uganda.
authors.forename: Thadeus
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kiwanuka
authors.affiliation: a MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS , Entebbe , Uganda.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bagiire
authors.affiliation: a MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS , Entebbe , Uganda.|b London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine , London , UK.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seeley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000208:ethnology; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception; D014454:Uganda; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HIV prevention; Uganda; condoms; relationships; sex