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Aids âkilling Africaâs
Aids is the leading cause of death in military and police forces in Africa, according to research. A study carried out by scientists in Nigeria says Aids could now be responsible for more than half the deaths in these services. The researchers interviewed about 500 Nigerian naval officers. Almost a third of those interviewed admitted having had sex with prostitutes, with nearly a half saying they did not use a condom. Many knew how HIV was transmitted, but more than 50% thought a cure for Aids was already available. The research was published in the Biomedcentral Public Health Journal. Lifestyle link In further work the scientists also reviewed much of the available data on HIV in the military. According to the scientists, this type of lifestyle - being posted away from partners for long periods of time - encourages soldiers to have sex elsewhere and has lead to HIV being a major problem in many African countries. Discussions are already under way between naval authorities and doctors to address the problem. Tackling the issue in the military, the authors say, is one of the most realistic ways of controlling the spread of HIV across Nigeria. The country has one of the worldâs highest numbers of people living with the Aids virus, according to Nigeriaâs health minister. Eyitayo Lambo has said that some 2.3m Nigerians had already died from Aids, while 3.8m were HIV positive. Only South Africa and India have more people infected with HIV. Does this article strike anyone else as not a little disingenuous? Why is there no mention of mass rape being a common practice among African military men? Gang rape would certainly vector HIV more quickly than even an active prostitute could on her best night. I suppose it would be culturally insensitive of me to suggest such a thing or expect there to be any outcry and condemnation regarding it. Can anybody tell that Iâm just dripping with sympathy for all these uniformed thugs who have acquired themselves a one-way ticket to Hell? If only they were unable to further transmit this plague, their punishment would be ultimately fitting. Sadly, there exists the horrific misconception that sex with a virgin will cure HIV. There also exists a distorted belief in some Asian and African countries that having sex with a virgin will cure HIV. (These notions are unfounded and false. In fact, the average rate for HIV infected children rescued from brothels is 50 percent, and some rates are as high as 90 percent.) One can only dread to think of how many more child rapes will result from all these soldiers being diagnosed as HIV positive. Again, no mention of such "culturally insensitive" information like this which might lessen any sympathy for what has to be some of the most brutally criminal armies in the world. At some point this sort of biased reporting crosses the line and begins facilitating the crimes they fail to document accurately. Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-21 |
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