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Since the nineteen-eighties, HIV prevention programs around the world have continuously expanded in attempts to meet challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS. These programs are generally based on primary prevention, which uses Information Education and Communication (IEC) to modify individual behavior. In Africa, as in many underdeveloped countries, various country-specific studies report that a majority of the population is knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, and how to prevent transmission. Yet while studies show a relatively strong link between education and behavior modification in developed countries, that link appears to be much weaker in less developed regions, including Africa. The literature identifies social and economic factors, especially gender inequalities and poverty, as significant obstacles to behavior change. This thesis assesses the impact of these factors in the Copperbelt region in Zambia, finding significant evidence that both social and economic factors operate as fundamental obstacles to behavior change. These findings suggest that HIV interventions need to go beyond IEC to deal with broader community development challenges. Gender imbalances play a particularly large role, and the findings suggest a desperate need for gender specific interventions targeting men., http://archive.org/details/hivaidspreventio109452810, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Since the nineteen-eighties, HIV prevention programs around the world have continuously expanded in attempts to meet challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS. These programs are generally based on primary prevention, which uses Information Education and Communication (IEC) to modify individual behavior. In Africa, as in many underdeveloped countries, various country-specific studies report that a majority of the population is knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, and how to prevent transmission. Yet while studies show a relatively strong link between education and behavior modification in developed countries, that link appears to be much weaker in less developed regions, including Africa. The literature identifies social and economic factors, especially gender inequalities and poverty, as significant obstacles to behavior change. This thesis assesses the impact of these factors in the Copperbelt region in Zambia, finding significant evidence that both social and economic factors operate as fundamental obstacles to behavior change. These findings suggest that HIV interventions need to go beyond IEC to deal with broader community development challenges. Gender imbalances play a particularly large role, and the findings suggest a desperate need for gender specific interventions targeting men.