You could start your death next month

May 21, 2010

THIS is one of the campaign slogans in South Africa as the country gets ready for next month’s FIFA World Cup. Traditionally, South Africans and many other people, celebrate victory and feasts with sex.

THIS is one of the campaign slogans in South Africa as the country gets ready for next month’s FIFA World Cup. Traditionally, South Africans and many other people, celebrate victory and feasts with sex.

Millions of sexual acts are predicted in a month long tournament both in the rainbow nation and the countries which will follow the World Cup in frenzy of excitement.

When the beer is flowing, your team is winning, your adrenaline is high and the crowd around you is even madder, it is more than likely that you will conclude your day with some post-match action.

Activists fear that while many World Cup teams may get lucky wins, not many people will have the sense to avoid an own goal. Scoring into your own net will leave many HIV transmissions worsening Africa’s HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted disease burden. Already, AIDS remains the country’s biggest killer in South Africa. An estimated 5.2 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2008,.

Activists are reminding the nations that condoms are still the safest and easiest way. One billion free condoms will be distributed within South Africa in the World Cup month and other excited countries should do the same. South Africa’s Drug Central Authority estimates 40,000 sex workers will trickle in for the event from as far as Russia, the Congo and Nigeria to cater to the wide taste spectrum of some 400,000, mostly male, visitors and their apres-soccer needs.

The Rainbow Nation has one of the highest rates of rape in the world. A 2009 survey by the country’s Medical Research Council found that one in four South African men had raped someone, and nearly 50% of the men admitted more than one offence. Most of the first cases of rape occurred when the men were still teenagers and were often part of gang rapes.

One in 20 of the men surveyed admitted they had raped a woman or girl in the last year and one in ten said they had been raped by other men.

A recent trade union report in South Africa revealed that a child was raped every three minutes with most cases unreported.

There are calls to legalise and register the country’s prostitutes of whom 50% are thought to be HIV-positive. The slogan used is Legal sex means safer sex.

There are currently no open brothels in South Africa but prostitution has mushroomed in recent years. Newspapers openly advertise “escort services” which are fairly explicit as to the nature of services on offer.

Many low-income black women are forced into the trade through poverty and have contributed to the spread of HIV.

President Jacob Zuma declared the upcoming World Cup as potential to revive the spirit of the nation. There is a lot to celebrate, to gain and to learn from the World Cup. As the rest gain, you should not lose.

Safety must remain the main keyword both in South Africa and the whole world, especially in countries caught up by the frenzy of the biggest tournament in sports.
Dr Love will return next week

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});