Can Condoms Save Africa?

For the last two month, I have been working with a sixteen year old student from the Melbourne Grammar School on an independent research project. This follows a six-month long mentorship I had with a student from Bialik College on Biofules, organised by the School of Graduate Studies(SGS). The current project is independent of the SGS's amazingly well-organised mentor program, yet, shares many of it similar qualities.

My student is a very bright ex-pat American, who has a keen interest in economics and humanitarian issues. In some respects, it is challenging to work with a year-10 student due to the different vocabularies and disciplines that university-level teaching engages with. On the other hand, it is refreshing to see how a young mind develops and is able to comprehend complex ideas that even my own undergraduate students would not be cognisant of.

Our research project has been developing over the last few months. First, my student wanted to consider how to improve the economic productivity of sub-Saharan Africa. The easy answer is relates to the discourse on trade subsides and the international competitiveness of African agricultural products. However, a larger issue impedes the productive growth of these economies: HIV/AIDS.

The cost of treatment and loss of wages associated with HIV can account for more than 30% of GDP in some African countries. Therefore, we engaged with how could one 'cure' this problem. (Of course we can't use HIV/AIDS, but we want to resolve a management solution). The easy answer, propounded by people like Bill Clinton, Bono and other NGOs, is the mass distribution of anti-retroviral medication to millions of infected people.... yet this is the wrong solution, at least from an economic perspective. Distribution of HIV/AIDS medication does, in fact, alleviate human suffering, but it only delays inevitable death and places a great strain on low-base economies. Evidence from UNAIDS suggests that the distribution of these medication does little to improve overall economic productivity (I will fully accept this is an economic rationalist approach to a humanitarian issue).

The better solution that we are developing revolves around the distribution of condoms and the mass education of people. This, of course, is a longer term prevention strategy, yet, could lead to the complete eradication of the disease. We are investigating cultural and political barriers to the use of condoms and the challenges placed to educating the masses to it use.

We are expecting a developed article within the next few weeks and I will post accordingly.

--Aron Ping D'Souza