‘Lancet’ Challenges HIV, Conflict Correlation

• Julie Doherty

A new study (login required) by the UN High Commission for Refugees and the University of Copenhagen, published in the June 30 issue of the Lancet, contradicts the prevailing belief that conflict fuels the spread of HIV. Data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Southern Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Burundi “did not show an increase in prevalence of HIV infection during periods of conflict, irrespective of prevalence when conflict began.” Additionally, the study finds “insufficient data to support the assertions that conflict, forced displacement, and wide-scale rape increase prevalence or that refugees spread HIV infection in host communities.”