Cross River State Agency for the Control of HIV And AIDS Acquires More Than Three Million Condoms
Nigeria’s Cross River State Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS (SACA) has acquired more than three million condoms for distribution to revelers during the Christmas Carnival village in Calabar.
The Director General of the agency, Dr Irene Aniyom confirmed on Sunday that the measure was to create more awareness on HIV and check its prevalence level.
She explained that the youths were targeted in the distribution of condoms because they will be the most sexually active participants at the annual carnival.
She added that SACA and her partners would also offer free counseling and test on the scourge during the 32-day event.
Aniyom advised youths against using the festival as an avenue for sexual activities and cautioned that “even if they should indulge in such practices, they should ensure that they use condoms”.
She said that Calabar South Local Government Area and Calabar Municipality Local Government had the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence.
She said that 244,106 people in the state were currently living with the HIV and AIDS.
She advised tourists and fun-seekers patronizing the festival village to avail themselves of the free counseling and test offered by the agency during the period.
“There is the need for people to take advantage of the testing and counseling to know their HIV status. This will enable them to control their excesses” she said.
The SACA boss stated that Cross River was one of the states in the country that was making conscious effort to tackle the disease.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
Category: Africa
