Sempa is right on abstinence, AIDS
Oct 16, 2005
THE majority of people in any society can abstain from sex or be faithful to one partner. However, a certain proportion will remain with restless urge for sex. This proportion is estimated to be 30 percent. It is this group that is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and a public health target for anti-AIDS camp
THE majority of people in any society can abstain from sex or be faithful to one partner. However, a certain proportion will remain with restless urge for sex. This proportion is estimated to be 30 percent. It is this group that is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and a public health target for anti-AIDS campaign.
In Uganda, the 30 percent widely using condoms cannot accept that there are many other people abstaining or remaining faithful to one partner. They argue that abstinence and faithfulness are unattainable. This misconception has made HIV/AIDS persist as a serious problem.
For example, research shows that there are about 700 new HIV/AIDS infections in Uganda every day. When AIDS was first detected in Uganda 25 years ago, the disease generated fear and panic. Society referred to those who had the disease as immoral. This made Ugandans control their behaviour and slowed down the spread of the disease.
Later, people later began to accept HIV/AIDS as a disease like any other. This accelerated the spread of the disease.
By 1986 when the NRM came to power AIDS was a big problem and the new government adopted the ABC strategy to contain the disease.
A study by the Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies demonstrates that the most significant factor that helped Ugandans was behavioural change. People chose to be faithful to one partner. This was followed by abstinence and condom use. Another study by United States Centre for Disease Control states that the surest way to avoid transmission of STDs is to abstain or be in a committed monogamous marriage.
For a condom to work, it must be used correctly and consistently. But a research done in Iganga district showed that out of 75 percent of the youths using condoms only two percent use them correctly and consistently.
Research shows that at the time the Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condoms (ABC) strategy was noted to have had positive impact on reducing infection from 30 percent in the early 1980s to six percent in the mid 1990s, the average number of condoms per male was only four per year.
Therefore, abstinence and faithfulness are at the core of Uganda’s success story. The argument that abstinence is hard is unrealistic and unattainable. Our ancestors had little or no educational background but used to emphasise virginity and it worked. Why should be hard to abstain today?
Pastor Martin Sempa of Campus Alliance to Wipe out AIDS (CAWA)should be heralded for championing abstinence which guarantees full protection against STDs and emotional pain from sexual relationships outside marriage.
The writer is a
journalist
In Uganda, the 30 percent widely using condoms cannot accept that there are many other people abstaining or remaining faithful to one partner. They argue that abstinence and faithfulness are unattainable. This misconception has made HIV/AIDS persist as a serious problem.
For example, research shows that there are about 700 new HIV/AIDS infections in Uganda every day. When AIDS was first detected in Uganda 25 years ago, the disease generated fear and panic. Society referred to those who had the disease as immoral. This made Ugandans control their behaviour and slowed down the spread of the disease.
Later, people later began to accept HIV/AIDS as a disease like any other. This accelerated the spread of the disease.
By 1986 when the NRM came to power AIDS was a big problem and the new government adopted the ABC strategy to contain the disease.
A study by the Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies demonstrates that the most significant factor that helped Ugandans was behavioural change. People chose to be faithful to one partner. This was followed by abstinence and condom use. Another study by United States Centre for Disease Control states that the surest way to avoid transmission of STDs is to abstain or be in a committed monogamous marriage.
For a condom to work, it must be used correctly and consistently. But a research done in Iganga district showed that out of 75 percent of the youths using condoms only two percent use them correctly and consistently.
Research shows that at the time the Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condoms (ABC) strategy was noted to have had positive impact on reducing infection from 30 percent in the early 1980s to six percent in the mid 1990s, the average number of condoms per male was only four per year.
Therefore, abstinence and faithfulness are at the core of Uganda’s success story. The argument that abstinence is hard is unrealistic and unattainable. Our ancestors had little or no educational background but used to emphasise virginity and it worked. Why should be hard to abstain today?
Pastor Martin Sempa of Campus Alliance to Wipe out AIDS (CAWA)should be heralded for championing abstinence which guarantees full protection against STDs and emotional pain from sexual relationships outside marriage.
The writer is a
journalist