Mines, Migration and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa

Corno, Lucia ; de Walque, Damien

关键词: ABSTINENCE;    ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME;    ADULT POPULATION;    AGE GROUPS;    AGED;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5966
RP-ID  :  WPS5966

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Swaziland and Lesotho have the highestHIV prevalence in the world. They also share anotherdistinct feature: during the last century, they sent a largenumbers of migrant workers to South African mines. Thispaper examines whether participation in mining in abordering country affects HIV infection rate. A job in themines means leaving for long periods away from theirfamilies and living in an area with an active sex industry.This creates potential incentives for multiple, concurrentpartnerships. Using Demographic and Health Surveys, theanalysis shows that migrant miners ages 30-44 are 15percentage points more likely to be HIV positive, and womenwhose partner is a migrant miner are 8 percentage pointsmore likely to become infected. The study also shows thatminers are less likely to abstain or use condoms, and femalepartners of miners are more likely to engage in extramaritalsex. The authors interpret these results as suggesting thatminers' migration into South Africa has increased thespread of HIV/AIDS in their countries of origin. Consistentwith this interpretation, the association between HIVinfection and being a miner or a miner's wife are notstatistically significant in Zimbabwe, a country where themining industry is local and does not involve migrating toSouth Africa.