UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Most men living in developing nations around the world have changed their behavior to reduce their risk of getting AIDS, but far fewer women have done so, according to a new UN report released on Saturday.

A survey of 39 developing nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean found that the vast majority of men--ranging from 60 to 90 percent, depending on the country--had altered how they behave to avoid AIDS.

But in only half the countries had a majority of women made a behavioral change, according to the survey by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

For both men and women, the most common changes were to restrict sexual activity to one partner or use condoms.

While men and women were generally highly aware of condoms, their usage was nonetheless very low in all countries surveyed and most women saw them as contraceptives rather than as a device that could prevent AIDS, the survey found.

"Changing behaviors is critical if the spread of the HIV virus is to be prevented," the report said. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

The survey found that school systems were generally ineffective in passing on basic knowledge about AIDS.

But there was strong evidence that radio messages about AIDS "make a very significant difference in people's awareness and knowledge of the disease," the report said, encouraging greater use of radio broadcasting to get out the message.

Some 40 million people in the world today either have AIDS or are infected with HIV, the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Reference Source 89

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