A scheme designed to change the behaviour of sex workers in the US-Mexico border region has significantly cut the number of cases of HIV, an academic has claimed.
The Mujer Segura (Sure Woman) course lasts 35 minutes and is said to be worth the $200 (£125) expense - of the women who have used the programme once, 33 cases of HIV infection are said to have been avoided.
The behavioural intervention course tries to encourage the workers to have safer sex and offers them training on how to negotiate the use of condoms with men who pay for their services.
Thomas Patterson, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego's school of medicine, said: "For many of these women, the reason they are sex workers is to make enough money to feed their children.
"So you don't just point out that HIV kills but also that taking precautions to avoid HIV infection means they will live longer and be able to take care of their children."
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