What is Culture? (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

Yesterday the IHIVF coordinator spoke of her visit to a speakers tour which detailed the experiences of people living with HIV, and touched upon some of the issues surrounding the virus. Today, we shall continue with an analysis of the root causes of HIV by looking at some questions relating to culture.

Firstly, what do we mean by culture?

Is culture dictating our life?
Is culture a part of our religion?
Is culture the reflection of our civilisation?
Is culture a personal or common issue?
Is culture touchable or untouchable?
Does culture dictate rights and wrongs and if so, who judges this?

With regards to HIV and AIDS:
Is culture having an impact on HIV or not? And, is it still a medical pandemic or a new cultural phenomenon?

Part 2 coming up. In the meantime please let us know your thoughts on the above.