Can Access to Fast Internet in Africa Promote HIV Awareness and Prevention? - Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract: Can access to the global Internet improve health behaviour and outcomes in Africa? Providing health-related information through the Internet - free of charge, tailored specifically to patients' needs and accessible from anywhere, anytime - has proven to enhance users' mental and physical wellbeing in numerous researched cases. However, little is known about this relation in developing countries, where fast and internationally connected Internet arrived only a decade ago. In how far access to fast Internet can also affect health outcomes, specifically HIV Awareness and Prevention, in Africa is therefore the research question of this study. The arrival of submarine cables at the African coast can be considered a technological exogenous shock which provided access to fast Internet to those areas that were located near the terrestrial backbone network. Matching geo-spatial individual DHS survey data from Nigeria with a terrestrial backbone map, and applying a difference-in-difference model, I compare individuals close to the network to those living more remotely, thus, remaining unconnected. The key results are as follows: First, I find access to fast Internet to significantly increase HIV Protection Awareness for the male, young as well as literate population. This result implies that the Internet indeed poses an effective opportunity to disseminate HIV prevention information targeted to this group specifically. Second, no causal relationship can be identified between fast Internet access and HIV Attitude, Transmission Awareness and Prevention. Thus, in all three cases, the Internet appears insufficient to change deeply rooted perceptions and social stigma.