Predictors of condom use in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

The HIV epidemic is well established in South Africa. Approximately 2.4 million people are already infected, and more than 700 new infections occur every day. To date the application of economics to the problem of HIV/AIDS in South Africa has tended to focus on the economic impact of the consequences of the condition, costing and cost effectiveness analysis of clinical and community-based strategies for care. There has been no attempt to model individual sexual behaviour and hence understand the factors which influence individual behavior. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, to identify the factors that are important in individuals' decisions to use condoms during sexual intercourse in order to prevent HIV/AIDS infection. Second, to estimate the effects of respondents' personal characteristics and service specific attributes on individuals' decisions to use condoms. Lastly, to explore the policy implications of the analysis. A logistic regression model is used to analyse empirically the determinants of the choice to use condoms using micro-level data from the 1994 South African National Household Survey of Health Inequalities. The respondents' race, gender, marital status, smoking status, beer drinking status, income, price at the facility normally visited, travel time to the source of condoms, self-assessed health status and knowledge that condoms offer contraception benefits were found to be highly significant predictors of demand for condoms. There is a need for developmental programmes aimed at raising incomes and access to modern health care services for the South Africans who were discriminated against during the apartheid era.