The A-B-C Approach: Abstinence
Abstinence means avoiding sex. Sex can have different definitions
for different people. Some people define sex as penis-in-vagina
intercourse. Others may include oral sex, anal sex, or even kissing
and touching. The way you define "sex" determines what
activities to avoid if you want to abstain. For the purpose of this
page, we will focus on abstaining from penis-in-vagina intercourse.
Advantages:
- Abstinence is free and available to everyone.
- It's extremely effective at preventing both pregnancy and infection.
- It can be started at any time in your life.
- Abstinence may encourage people to build relationships in other
ways.
- It may be the course of action which you feel is right for you
and makes you feel good about yourself.
The A-B-C Approach: Be Faithful
To "B-e Faithful" as a means of AIDS prevention means
to remain loyal to one's sexual partner. By doing such, one lowers
the risk of exposure to HIV-infected individuals. By choosing to
remain in a faithful, committed relationship each partner is choosing
to be exclusive and only have sexual intercourse with one another.
Thus, if you choose to be sexually active, rather than to abstain
from sex, being faithful to your sexual partner is the next step
in the ABC prevention plan as a way to reduce the risk of transmitting
HIV.
The A-B-C Approach: Condoms
Studies have shown that latex condoms are highly effective in preventing
HIV transmission when used consistently and correctly. These studies
looked at uninfected people considered to be at very high risk of
infection because they were involved in sexual relationships with
HIV-infected people. The studies found that even with repeated sexual
contact, 98-100 percent of those people who used latex condoms correctly
and consistently did not become infected.
^TOP AIDS IN OTHER NATIONS >
American Medical Association
(AMA) Manual of Style: Borders T. HIV-AIDS Course, Chapter 4 – Sexuality
and Personal Relationships [Connexions Web site]. March 17, 2006.
Available at: http://cnx.org/content/m13340/1.3/.
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