A UNITED STATES SENATE Commission has agreed to triple the budget – to up to US$50 million – for programmes that take on the AIDS pandemic in Africa.
Chris Smith, the Republican Senator of New Jersey, provided them with the evidence of the success that abstinence and fidelity achieve on AIDS prevention in African countries.
He drafted a law in the House of Representatives that is designed to re-activate the president’s Emergency Plan for the fight against HIV.
After presenting the reports provided by the Department of State, as well as by the Department of Health and Human Services, Smith asserted that these principles were two important factors in preventing AIDS in countries like Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
These three countries have shown a decrease in the spread of HIV. To that extent, the reports show that there has been an increase in the application of “AB” (abstinence and fidelity).
According to an article published by Science, the spread of AIDS between the Aborigines of Zimbabwe (ages 17 to 29) has decreased at a rate of 23 per cent.
Among the female population between the ages of 15 and 24 it has decreased 49 per cent. Developing African countries, such as Uganda, conduct events with the “ABC” logo, which stands for A – abstinence, B – fidelity, C – the use of contraceptives.
Moreover, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has succeeded in motivating his people to modify their sexual conduct in order to prevent the dangers of AIDS.
For President Museveni the ABC stands for A – abstinence, B – fidelity, C – character.
According to Uganda’s Demographic and Health Survey, 93 per cent of Ugandans have changed their sexual conduct in order to help combat the fight against AIDS.
CLEMENTE FERRER
