Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Corresponding Author: Dr. Marguerite B. We examine current perceptions and constraints surrounding condom use among young adults in the Philippines to garner a deeper contextual understanding of this aspect of HIV prevention within Filipino society.
Through thematic analysis of focus group data, we found three broad themes, all of which included societal and individual barriers to using condoms. The findings may provide insight for similar settings that have strong religious influences on society. To strengthen HIV prevention efforts in such settings, we suggest that the development of strategies to address these constraints in the cultural setting and promote sexual health of young adults is essential.
HIV continues to be a growing global health epidemic. While consistent condom use has been a primary component of primary prevention interventions, overall usage in many settings remains low. The contributing factors to this low usage have been explored in high-risk, high-prevalence settings, but not in high-risk, low-prevalence settings. We focus our research on the Philippines, a setting where current HIV prevalence is low, but societal risk factors are growing rapidly.
Condom usage remains very low and has only been studied in a limited manner in this setting, yet the country stands at the precipice of a major potential HIV epidemic, according to UNAIDS. Through this study, we have provided contextual data on decisions regarding condom use among young adults in Cebu City, the second largest metropolitan area of the Philippines. We found that, as with many other settings around the world, religion plays an important role in society and is interwoven with many of the barriers to condom use and negotiation.
Intervention efforts particularly focused on de-stigmatizing and increasing condom use must work jointly with religious bodies in order to effectively prevent the HIV epidemic from burgeoning in settings such as this.
