In August 2002, while briefing the press in Lusaka, a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) official warned Zambia to brace itself for increased sex work, crime and exploitation if food contingency measures were not immediately addressed.
Analysing data from interviews with traditional birth assistants and their clients in rural Nigeria, this paper examines the characteristics and conditions of persons using the services of traditional birth homes. The clients of traditional birth homes mainly comprise women with little or no formal education and in low or no‐income occupations.
Although some cultural practices have been identified as a determinant of HIV transmission, research investigating how specific practices affect HIV risk is lacking. In Malawi, initiation rites, in which young people attend ceremonies around the time of puberty, have received little attention.