A study in The Lancet Global Health indicates that additional schooling can decrease the risk of HIV by 8.1 percent in Botswana.

This is the first study of its kind to link secondary schooling as a causal effect on new HIV infection. In 1996, Botswana implemented several policy reforms in order to expand education access to grade 10 and increase education for students.

The study used exposure to these policy reforms as the variable by which to understand the effect of schooling on the risk of HIV. The researchers estimated the causal effect of the number of years of schooling based on the probability that an individual would contract HIV up to their age when the survey was administered.

Not only did each additional year of schooling lead to a reduction in the risk of HIV contraction, but these policy changes were proven to be cost-effective HIV prevention methods.

The annual cost of education per student in Botswana is USD $2,248. The cost per HIV infection averted amounts to USD $27,753. These calculations were performed with World Bank data and approximated using DALYs (Disability Adjusted Lifetime Years) to understand the impact of lives lost and shortened by the burden of HIV.

Increased schooling can allow people access to information on how to avoid contracting HIV. Furthermore, we understand that increased schooling has many other benefits. It allows for increased employment opportunities and can help communities develop in a sustainable way.

The fact that these policy reforms were successful and cost effective could imply that other countries could benefit from similar policy reforms. However, further research is needed to understand exactly why and how the education reforms in Botswana were as effective as they were.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: The Lance
Photo: Peace Corps