In both countries (and we suspect other African nations) the figures are showing that HIV/Aids infections are highest among married couples, the group that everyone thought was least at risk.
Marriage has been touted as one way of reducing the risk of being infected with HIV/Aids. Now it turns out marriage might, actually, be a death sentence.
The idea that marriage was partially Aids-proof came from the belief that it was more likely to encourage couples to be faithful.
Apart from being urged to be faithful, Aids information campaigns offered married people little else. You could not ask them to use condoms, because it was both against God’s wish, and nonsensical. Marriage, after all, is the institution where children are born ‘‘legally’’.
This mess exposes a fundamental prejudice of the middle classes and ‘‘Establishment’’.
First, a class bias led us to believe that prostitutes were major vehicles for the transmission of HIV.
Secondly, we have a patronising attitude that considers young people stupid and ignorant about what is good for them.
A lot of money was therefore spent blanketing ‘‘high-risk’’ groups with Aids safety messages. Now it turns out, it was the good married people who needed the messages most.
However, Aids has also exposed something else that would trouble our ancestors.
We are simply unable to adapt.