Multiple Sex Partner and Child Survival: Social Consequences of the AIDS Epidemic in Rakai, Uganda

Heena Brahmbhatt, Johns Hopkins University
David Bishai, Johns Hopkins University
Fred Wabwire-Mangen, Makerere University
Godfrey Kigozi, Rakai Project

This paper assesses the extent to which HIV/AIDS and other STDs mediate the association between maternal sexual behavior on child mortality. Prospective data from (N=4,351) households in the Maternal Infant Supplement study from Rakai, Uganda were used. Multivariate analyses showed an increased child mortality if the mother reported multiple sexual partners (OR=1.90, p=0.02), or was HIV positive (OR=1.8, p=0.003). In the HIV negative mothers, the odds of child mortality increased if the mother reported multiple sex partners (OR=2.2, p=0.01). This finding was not sustained in the HIV positive mothers. Children of women with multiple sexual partners experience higher mortality in part due to vertically transmitted infectious diseases, and in part due to unidentified processes which may be related to parental social status and behavior.