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Africa News afrol News
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Africa News afrol News
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afrol.com, 6 December - The Rwandan Government, adopting the UNAIDS slogan "Men Make a Difference", will focus its AIDS-policy on enlightening Rwandan men on sexuality. The AIDS Control Programme recognises that women mostly fall victim to HIV infection due to men controlling their sexuality. In a statement, the Rwandan Government agrees that the "sexual behaviour of men currently contributes substantially to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Rwanda and around the world. Globally, it is recognised that women find themselves at special risk of HIV because of their lack of power to determine where, when and how sex takes place." The National AIDS Control Programme is determined to make use of this information in its further work on combating the pandemic. "In Rwanda, men have been urged to change their sexual behaviour as the only sure way to arrest the spread of the disease," the Director of the Programme, Innocent Ntaganira says. Engaging men as partners in fighting HIV/AIDS is one of the surest ways to change the course of the epidemic, according to UNAIDS. That is why UNAIDS has chosen 'Men Make a Difference' as the theme of this year's global campaign. The Director of the National AIDS Control Programme, Innocent Ntaganira highlighted the severe toll the disease has taken on Rwandans. He said that 400,000 Rwandans, mostly from the most productive segment of the population, are now living with AIDS. In Rwanda, about 150,000 people have so far died of the disease. Ntaganira called for community participation to combat the spread of the disease. HIV is spreading at an alarming rate among young African women. In Botswana, the country most severely affected by AIDS, about one in four teenage girls lives with HIV, compared to one in 25 teenage boys. On a world-wide scale, women between the ages of 15 and 24 account for half of new HIV infections. The reason for these numbers are seen in the unequal relationships between women and men, especially when it comes to sexuality. Violence against and abuse of women and girls is the most eye-catching example. Rape is widespread, and in South Africa, elder AIDS infected men are reported to mass rape younger, non-infected women, believing this may cure them from the disease. Violence against women can also take less overt forms. Young girls often have sexual relationships with 'sugar daddies" who coerce them to have sex in exchange for gifts and favours. Such unequal relationships also have great consequences for women, in terms of their risk of infection. An even greater risk factor for women are husbands or partners having unprotected sexual relationships with other women or prostitutes. Village women having their men working in town during the week have been called "sitting ducks waiting to be shot" in reference to their husband's unprotected sexual relations. The willingness to use condoms among men has generally been low. As the worldwide statistics show clearer and clearer connections between unequal sexual relationships between men and women and spread of the HIV virus, African men have been pinpointed as the key target to curb further virus spread. Few African Governments and national AIDS agencies however have dared to challenge the taboo of speaking publicly about sexual behaviour, making the Rwandan initiative a promising project. Florida Mukandamutsa, leader of the association of AIDS-sufferers in the Rwandan CESTRAR trade union,
however says that Rwandan men appear to have retreated from the front line in this life-and-death struggle. "In a sense, women are more subject to the consequences of the disease. They are more resistant to the virus and therefore live longer with AIDS," she explains. "It is they who must look after the children..." Most importantly, "by refusing unsafe sex, they can be instrumental in combating the disease," Mrs. Mukandamutsa says. Source:
Based on afrol archives and Rwandan Government
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