How Zimbabwe’s hairdressers are cutting HIV infection
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Listen to Maria's
poem or
read the transcript | G8 Two years on -
HIV/AIDS
Condoms are a huge success story in Zimbabwe. 900,000 female condoms were sold
in 2005 alone, the highest sales per capita in the world.
But you might be surprised to know that more than 50% of these were distributed through a network of 500
hair salons and 1000 hair dressers trained through a DFID-funded programme.
This network is the result of DFID's partnership with Population Services International (PSI),
where
hairdressers in low-income areas have been trained to talk with their clients
about how to negotiate the use of female condoms with their partners, and to
demonstrate how to use them correctly and consistently.
Together, we're helping vulnerable women to get life-saving messages about
female condoms.
'Get braids, not AIDS'
 Maria
Tavambirwa (30) is a young hair dresser playing an active role in preventing HIV
and AIDS transmission. She does this by promoting the use of the ‘care’ female condom among young
women in her salon in Chitungwiza, a town just outside Harare.
Maria is very enthusiastic about the role she is playing in helping women at
risk to take the initiative in protecting themselves from HIV infection.
She says; "My clients are mostly young girls from a nearby college who
are forced to engage in unprotected sex with older men because of economic
pressures.
"They visit the salon on a regular basis and I take this opportunity
to talk to them on the benefits of using the female condom while they are having
their hair done."
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The hair salon network: How does it work?
Finding innovate ways to reach and influence women is a big part of the driving
force behind the hair salon network's success in driving condom sales, and is a
key factor in reducing HIV infection rates.
The female condom hair salon programme has hugely influenced the increase in
knowledge and demand for the female condom in Zimbabwe, significantly
contributing to the 240% increase in sales between 2001 and 2006.
This approach works because hair salons provide the friendly, supportive and
safe environment that these women need to be able to discuss personal and sexual
issues. Here, they are empowered to overcome the stigma associated with female
condoms. That means they feel freer to find out
more about the female condom, and to ask as many questions as they like about
how to introduce it into their relationships.
The fact is, women are far more likely to become infected with HIV than men (see
key facts). This is partly because of physiological differences, but also because women in
Zimbabwe – as in many African countries – are often unable to insist on safe
sexual practices with partners.
But the hair salon network is helping to lower the risks that women face.
A
 DFID-funded study (PSI 2004,
PDF file), conducted among 400 hair salon clients revealed
that women who had seen a female condom demonstration by a hairdresser were 2.5
times more likely to use the product than those who had not. Women are also more
able to negotiate safe sexual practices with their partners when they have
control over a practical means to do so.
The study also showed that clients who have been exposed to discussions with
hair dressers and tried using care female condoms were more likely to report increased correct and
consistent condom use. This highlights the importance of promoting and selling
condoms in a way that allows women to get advice and support at the point of
sale.
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What happens next?
 Building on the success of the hair salon initiative,
in 2006 PSI is now training a
network of people living with HIV and AIDS to educate and sell the female condom
to their peers at a profit.
This programme is expected to account for 25% of total female condom sales by
the end of 2006, compared with 8% in 2005. About 200 more hair dressers are
expected to join the network as it expands to other vulnerable, low-income areas in Zimbabwe in
2006.
Increased use of the female condom plays an important role in increasing
safer sexual practices among women who continue to be infected at higher rates than men.
Allison Beattie, DFID's Health Advisor in Zimbabwe, said:
"We support initiatives like the hair salon project because it is
an innovative part of a long running programme aimed at helping people
change their behaviour. Women need practical and realistic options to
negotiate safe sex with their partners.
"The female condom is one of these and we are finding that, when
distributed in the right environment, the result is increased uptake and use
by women. That means fewer HIV infections."
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Key Facts
- Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV infections in the world with one in five
adults living with HIV and AIDS.
UNAIDS
Zimbabwe homepage
- The hair salon programme was funded by DFID between 2002 and 2006 and
was part of a four-year £11.3 million programme to raise awareness of
HIV-AIDS, influence behaviour change and to reduce the social stigma
associated with the disease. Implemented by PSI Zimbabwe, it is co-funded
with USAID.
- Although HIV is a huge problem in Zimbabwe, a UNAIDS report credits the
recently
reported decline in HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe (now estimated to be 18% of
the adult population) to significant behaviour change. This includes
increased condom with non regular partners and reduction in the number of
non-regular sexual partners
- DFID has agreed a new programme with PSI covering 2006-2010 worth £20 million
- According to Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health and Child Welfare 2005, 56% of the
adult population (15-49 years) living with HIV and AIDS are women . The
Preliminary Report of the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey
(2005-2006) highlights the HIV prevalence among females to be 21% (it is14.5%
for males).
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