AIDS Poses Threat to Australia Aborigines
Australia’s aborigines risk being devastated by AIDS because of the ceremonial sharing of blood and a general lack of safe sex practices, a state inquiry found.
The report by South Australian Parliament’s Social Development Committee said some aborigines had died from acquired immune deficiency syndrome. It said HIV, the virus that causes the disease, was spreading swiftly.
Alcohol abuse and “the absence of cultural sanctions against multiple sexual partners” among aborigines also led to unsafe sex and the ultimate spread of AIDS, the report said.
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