Abstinence yes, but condom use important as well

The Project Coordinator of an International Charity Foundation, the Woyome Foundation for Africa (WOFA) has told the dailyEXPRESS that the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic could be partly won through abstinence, but says the use of condoms is an equally effective method of reducing the spread of the virus.

Answering questions posed by the dailyEXPRESS after the official launch of the Foundation in Accra, Vitus Nanbigne said “condom is not the solution to the HIV/AIDS but it helps because people are exploited.”

He explained that while it is important for people to adhere to the prescription of abstinence, it should equally be recognized by those championing the crusade for abstinence that it is not everyone who has the capacity or high moral standing to refrain from sex, especially at the greening stage of an individual’s life.

Some religious groups and individuals have for years been crusading against the use of condoms and instead urge people to abstain from sex. The Catholic Church for example is one of the leading proponents of abstinence and continues to argue against the use of condoms.

The church’s argument is that the use of condoms, instead of curtailing the spread would rather increase the level of sexual promiscuity among majority of the youth.

In Uganda for example, President Yoweri Museveni’s wife Janet Kataha, a self professed Christian openly expressed her reservation about attempts by an American NGO to distribute condoms in the country.

Expatiating on the issue, Mr. Nanbigne observed that many people are limited in their choices when it comes to negotiating for safe sex, especially where it involves economic power.

According to him, as a result of poverty levels in most African countries people especially women have become vulnerable to the spread of the disease because they are lured into situations where they cannot resist the temptation of having to let go off the money if they refuse the sexual favours from men who might be possible careers of the virus.

On whether poverty could be the root cause of the virus as has been argued by South African leader Thabo Mbeki, the WOFA Project Coordinator shook his head to signal his disagreement, but said there is a correlation.

“If you look at the statistics, the most people who suffer from HIV/AIDS are poor people and if you look at it carefully you find that they get exploited, particularly women and children,” he said.

He added that in situations where the underlining weapon is economic power it becomes even more important for people to protect themselves.

Mr. Nanbigne narrated a situation in which a young pregnant woman was diagnosed with the virus and she found that her affair with a seemingly wealthy man carrying the virus was the cause. He said the same man went ahead to have unprotected sex with another lady whom he believed did not know of the man’s HIV/AIDS status as well.

He told the dailyEXPRESS that majority of the funds received by the Woyome Foundation for Africa will be channelled into the purchase of anti retroviral drugs which will be distributed freely to victims of the virus.

The Foundation he noted would construct a “350-room hospital and research facility for work in HIV/AIDS and will serve as a treatment, therapy, counselling and rehabilitation centre for PLWHA.”

Mr. Nanbigne said the facility which will be constructed first in Ghana and in other African countries under the Foundation’s Africa Life Aid Projects.

“We believe that when Africa is safe from the virus, the entire world stands to benefit”, he said in his address at the official launch.

The Foundation is also urging people to stop the stereotyping and stigmatisation of persons with the virus because “it’s not a disease but a condition.”