Contextual factors influencing unsafe sexual behaviours and the spread of HIV/AIDS Amongst the Tiv People of North Central Nigeria

Background Unsafe sex is the second most important risk factor for disability and deaths in the poorest countries and the ninth most important in developed countries. It is one of the major sources of HIV infection, the global leading infectious killer of human beings. Globally, in 2013, there were 2.1 million new infections, 35 million adults living with HIV/AIDS, and more than 39 million people have died of HIV/AIDS related causes since the first case was identified in 1981. Currently, about 24.7 million and 3.2 million individuals are living with HIV in Africa and Nigeria respectively. Despite the fact that penetrative sex involves partners, previous research had concentrated on the individual to provide evidence of unsafe sexual behaviours and its correlates and these assumptions have been used for biomedical and behavioural change interventions at the individual level to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS; though with some degree of success, the aim to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS had fallen short of the targets due to the impact of relational and distal factors which have not previously been adequately addressed.