Other success stories

Other success stories indicate positive interactions between different approaches, with
some interventions leading to outcomes beyond those intended. Programmes in several
countries have shown that positive interactions among prevention interventions can
stabilize or reduce HIV prevalence. A condom promotion campaign directed at male port
workers in Brazil had the unexpected result of not only increasing condom use among
these men but also decreasing the proportion of men who reported having sex with casual
partners4. Senegal’s prevention efforts, which began in the mid-1980s, led to high levels
of knowledge about HIV prevention in the general population and to unexpectedly high
rates of condom use with non-regular partners, particularly by sex workers and their
clients. Prevention programmes in Thailand and Uganda are outstanding examples of
the effectiveness of comprehensive programmes including condom promotion leading
to reductions in HIV transmission. Condom promotion played a different role in each of
these two countries’ successes.