PIP: "Dry sex" may aid in the transmission of HIV-1. Many women in southern Africa willingly insert herbal aphrodisiacs, household detergents, and antiseptics into their vaginas before sex to increase friction, despite the concurrent pain it will cause. Neetha Morar (Medical Research Council, Durban) states that the practice has been reported in many countries. In Zaire, women use leaves and powders to heighten sexual pleasure. A cross-sectional study of women in Malawi reports the use of traditional substances to tighten the vagina before coitus. 86% of women interviewed in a Zambian study practiced dry sex. Phillip Kubukeli, President of the Herbalists and Spiritual Healers Association in the Western Cape, states that dry sex is most prevalent in KwaZulu-Natal, which has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS. In the first descriptive study of its kind in South Africa, Morar found that at least 80% of 150 prostitutes between the ages of 15 and 45 years, working at truck stops in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, practiced dry sex. Morar believes that the substances used by the women may disrupt the uterine and vaginal membranes and that the excessive drying may lead to abrasive trauma during coitus. The practice may also compromise the effect of condoms. According to South African Deputy President Mbeki, in an address to the nation on October 9, 1998, in which he launched a campaign against AIDS, there are more than 3 million persons infected with HIV-1 in South Africa; 1500 are infected each day.