By John Jalsevac 
NIGERIA, July 12, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Nigerian Chairman of the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) has said that he believes that rising instances of what he calls the “foreign” practice of homosexuality in Nigeria is harming efforts to end the AIDS pandemic.
Allafrica.com reports that Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin made the remarks to members of the media at NACA’s Corporate Headquarters.
Homosexuality, in particular, and other high-risk sexual activity in general, including sex with multiple partners, only serve to increase the chances that HIV/AIDS will be spread, said Osotimehin, as reported by allafrica.com. He lamented that because of the underground nature of the homosexual subculture, it is difficult to extend counselling services to those who engage in homosexual behaviour.
Instead of engaging in behaviour that seriously harms the effort to put an end to AIDS, the Chairman suggested that “preventive” measures that strike at the heart of the problem must be taken.
“The war against HIV/AIDS can only be won through preventive approach, much more than through treatment. This is why we stress people stay away from all forms of risky behaviours.”
Osotimehin pointed to the statistical successes in Uganda as evidence of the efficacy of such preventive measures.
In the early 1990s officials in Uganda made the logical leap that since HIV is primarily passed via sexual contact, if individuals didn’t have sex with those infected with HIV then they wouldn’t be infected. Since then the nation has successfully and significantly lowered its rate of HIV infection, and infuriated UN condom-only AIDS agencies, by pursuing a program of abstinence education that encourages marital fidelity and sexual restraint as the surest means of avoiding infection.
Read Allafrica.com’s coverage:
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200607101102.html
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Uganda AIDS Prevention Success Being Undermined by Infuriated UN Condom-Pushers
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05020408.html