Delaying Underage Drinking and HIV Risks

描述(由申请人提供)：在撒哈拉以南非洲，特别是在乌干达，酒精营销和青年早期饮酒在他们感染艾滋病毒的道路上所起的作用是一个重要的、以前基本上没有解决的问题。乌干达的酒精消费尤其令人担忧，因为该国是世界上人均消费水平最高的国家之一。虽然非洲的酒精研究一直很少，但在主要是撒哈拉以南非洲的地区，酒精的使用被发现与无保护措施的性行为和其他健康问题有关。研究还表明，酒精营销，特别是通过向青少年(13-15岁)免费提供酒精，在赞比亚相对普遍(30%)，这种营销形式反过来又与问题饮酒和醉酒有关。然而，缺乏关于酒精营销做法及其对乌干达青年的影响的信息。先前的研究表明，接触酒精营销的年轻人也更有可能很早就开始饮酒，反过来，这种开始会导致更多的问题饮酒和醉酒。然而，这些发现主要基于赞比亚现有的数据，尚未在乌干达进行实证检验。目前的混合方法项目将开发一种结构性干预措施，旨在减少早期饮酒在12至18岁的青年中加剧艾滋病毒传播风险的程度。该项目将包括对酒精进行环境扫描，对青年和社区组织的领导人进行形成性研究(调查和重点小组)，并开发交流信息和材料，以制定反营销活动。该项目将由一个由杰出的酒精研究人员组成的跨学科和国际项目咨询委员会指导，该委员会为乌干达坎帕拉的弱势群体和城市青年提供服务。该项目的目标是更好地成为酒类营销领域的先驱，社区组织的尊贵领导人了解青少年接触到的酒类营销的普遍性和类型，并制定反营销信息，寻求推迟和减少早期饮酒和与酒精有关的增加艾滋病毒传播风险的危险性行为。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An important and previously largely unaddressed issue in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in Uganda specifically, is the role of alcohol marketing and early alcohol use among youth in their path towards HIV acquisition. Alcohol use in Uganda is of particular concern since the country has one of the highest per capita consumption levels world-wide. While alcohol research in Africa has been scarce, alcohol use in primarily Sub-Saharan Africa has been found to be associated with unprotected sex and other health concerns. Research also shows that alcohol marketing, specifically through the provision of free alcohol to youth (ages 13-15), is relatively common in Zambia (30%) and that this form of marketing in turn is associated with problem drinking and drunkenness. However, there is a dearth of information about alcohol marketing practices and their influence specifically on youth in Uganda. Previous research shows that youth who are exposed to alcohol marketing are also more likely to initiate alcohol use early, and in turn, that initiation leads to more problem drinking and drunkenness. However, these findings based on data available primarily in Zambia, have not yet been empirically examined in Uganda. The current mixed-methods project will develop a structural intervention designed to reduce the extent to which early alcohol use exacerbates risk for HIV transmission among youth ages 12-18 years of age. The project will include conducting an environmental scan of alcohol, conducting formative research (surveys and focus groups) with youth and leaders of community based organizations and the development of communication messages and materials to devise a counter marketing campaign. The project will be guided by an interdisciplinary and international Project Advisory Board comprised of distinguished alcohol researchers, that serve vulnerable and urban youth in Kampala, Uganda. The goals of the project is to better pioneers in the field of alcohol marketing, and valued leaders of community based organizations understand the prevalence and types of alcohol marketing that youth are exposed to and to develop counter marketing messages that will seek to delay and reduce early alcohol use and alcohol-related risky sexual behaviors that increase risk for HIV transmission.