Abstinence, Be Faithful, Use a Condom (ABC Approach)

Abstinence, Be Faithful, Use a Condom, commonly known as the ABC approach, is an HIV prevention strategy developed in response to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, combining risk-avoidance and harm-reduction messaging around three components: abstaining from or delaying sexual activity, remaining faithful to one partner and reducing concurrent partners, and using condoms when abstinence or fidelity are not practiced. It gained particular prominence in African nations including Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Malawi, with Uganda held up as the strategy's flagship success story: the percentage of Ugandans living with HIV fell from about 15 percent in 1990 to between 5 and 6 percent by 2001, a decline attributed substantially to behavior change emphasizing partner reduction. The approach gained support from African governments and international relief agencies, and a form of it later spread to United States school sex education during the 1980s and 1990s as abstinence-plus education.