New Media and Mass Communication www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-3267 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3275 (Online) Vol.27, 2014 19 HIV/AIDS and Cultural Practices in Nigeria: An Implication for HIV/AIDS Preventive Communication Campaign Kehinde Kadijat Kadiri*, Dr. Mohd Kharie Ahmad Prof. Dr. Che Su Mustaffa School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia *E-mail of the corresponding author: kcube0207@yahoo.com Abstract This article aims to examine the subtle links that exist between cultural practices and beliefs and the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. It investigates the cultural practices that influence risky sexual behaviour and how cultural values of the people can be conceptualised into STIs preventive communication campaign in Nigeria. Data were gathered through an in-depth interview among young students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. The study also shows that socio-cultural environment and structural contexts are responsible for the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Therefore, the non-centrality of culture in HIV/AIDS preventive campaign is one of the major reasons why very little success has been recorded in the area of behaviour change. The study emphasize that HIV/AIDS preventive communication campaign should not fight against the culture of the people because it might alienate the people whose cooperation is necessary if the prevalence of HIV/AIDS must be curbed. Therefore, the study advocates that campaign planners should rather try to make behaviour and practices safer in a way that is culturally acceptable to people. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Preventive communication, Cultural practices 1. Introduction AIDS is currently recognized as more than a health and biological problem (Hasnain & Levy, 2005); it is presently a major international health concern which is threatening to wipe off the whole human existence if adequate precautions are not taken. The entire world including the Sub-Saharan African countries are exerting all kinds of precautionary efforts –not limited to medical- to curb the detriments of HIV/AIDS in their countries. However, these enormous efforts have been insignificant in quelling the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Therefore, more panaceas are expected to be explored in order to achieve a significant annihilation of HIV/AIDS. Nigeria is an example of a nation battling with the prevalence of HIV/AIDS; the disease is alarmingly threatening the Nigerian social and economic sphere. Researchers documented that HIV was first detected in Nigeria in 1986 (Amanyeiwe, Laurel, Aneesa, Taye, Mehta-Steffen & Valdenebro et al., 2008) and since the discovery, the number of infected young people has increased in threefold; from 1.8% in 1991 to 5.8% in 2001, after which a slight decline was observed (from 5.0% in 2003 to 4.4% in 2005), with prevalence as high as 16% in some parts of the country (Kombe, Galaty & Nwagbara, 2004; Amanyeiwe et al., 2008). Evidently, Nigeria has been identified as the second largest HIV infected people in the world (USAID, 2010) and the infection now stands as one of the leading causes of death among people aged 15-49 years across all the geographical regions (Kombe, Galaty & Nwagbara, 2004). With all these statistics in mind, and with the understanding that HIV/AIDS has caused tremendous pain to millions of people, one begins to wonder as Campbell (2003) asks, why people involve themselves in risky sexual behaviour which could result into a slow, excruciating, and untimely death and why the best strategic and purposive campaigns in several countries are mostly unsuccessful in curbing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Several studies have shown that the current course of the epidemic is unlikely to change unless the people affected, and those at risk, make a concerted effort to adopt preventive measures (Hasnain, 2005; Erinosho, Joseph, Isiugo-Abanihe, Dike, & Aderinto, 2013). Containment of the AIDS epidemic thus depends on effecting change in behaviour and lifestyle to break the chain of transmission. The change in behaviour becomes more challenging for the reason that the forces that form and stimulate human behaviour that is injurious to health are very complex and poorly understood. In recent years, increasing attention is being paid to the manner in which cultural practices influence risk sexual behaviours related to HIV infection transmission (Airhihenbuwa & Webster, 2004). Though the association of contentious cultural issues with HIV risk behaviours exists in all societies, it is much more pronounced in Nigeria with a population of about 134 million people distributed among 389 ethnic groups. Studies have shown that the poor understanding of sexuality and its cultural contexts by many HIV and AIDS stakeholders may be responsible for the low success levels recorded against HIV/AIDS campaigns (Oladepo & Fayemi, 2011; Oyediran, 2003; Uwah & Wright, 2012). Hence, the inadequate use of cultural cues of people in Nigeria might be the single reason for the unsuccessful HIV/AIDS campaigns in Nigeria. Thus, understanding the role of cultural practices in the transmission of HIV transmission is critical for the development and implementation of successful HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Nigeria.