Going underground and going after women: trends in sexual risk behaviour among gold miners in South Africa

This payer examines trends in risk behaviour among South African gold miner s, a population with an estimated HIV prevalence of 10-20%. The study is ba sed on a 1995 and 1997 survey of a random sample gold miners in the town of Welkom, South Africa. The results show that the percentage of miners who p erceived they were likely to contract HIV increased from 33% in 1995 to 35% in 1997 (P<0.01). The percentage who had 4 or more partners in the past ye ar decreased from 25% to 13% (P<0.01), and the percentage whose last sexual partner was their spouse increased from 56% to 70% (P<0.01). Condom use in last intercourse with a spouse increased from 18% to 26% (P < 0.05). Condo m use with other partners was considerably higher (67%), but did not increa se significantly from 1995. The most likely contributors to this behaviour change were the AIDS awareness programmes implemented by the mining industr y and the behaviour change communications of a condom social marketing camp aign targeted at miners and commercial sex workers in the mining community.