Gender disparity worsens spread of HIV - Ekweremadu

November 29, 2006 :: Chinyere Amalu,Abuja, Vanguard,Lagos

Gender inequality has been recognised as a major setback facing the nation in combating the spread of HIV and AIDS in the country.

Managing Director Society for Family Health (SFH) Mr. Bright Ekweremadu who stated this last week in   Abuja, during an interactive Gender Forum pointed out  that if the issue of gender is critically looked upon, the spread of the disease would have been abated.

“I strongly feel that the major challenge facing the fight against HIV/AIDS is the issue of gender equality. It is the major driving force of HIV/AIDS spread in Nigeria .  This is why we are taking up the topic.  “If Nigerians will stop discriminating against gender and critically looked at it in handling the disease, the spread on daily basis  would have been reduced to a greater extent.”

Continuing, he noted that: “It is wrong to say that we are distributing condoms. Yes we do that but we have various programmes on abstinence. In every single  condoms used, there are every 10 chances of contacting the disease.

 “All we do is presenting different programmes on choice to Nigerians. We have a programme on ZIP UP. We have several programmes on spouse being faithful to  their partners. It is completely a round programme on awareness and education. We are simply providing choices for the people.” Ekweremadu who noted that the  Society spends over N3.2 billion annually in carrying out its programmes, said  poverty is the bedrock of child mortality.

“We try to educate the care givers on some basic things they should do after putting to bed. For example like in fighting malaria, we tell parents what to do. We  provide nets at a subsidized rate.

“We are not only talking about gender mainstreaming. What we are doing is to ensure that maternal mortality, child mortality is reduced, HIV/AIDS, poverty, is  reduced. So we are not just working on gender mainstreaming but on five goals o the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."