Executive Director, International Women Communications Centre, Mrs. Goroso Limota has decried the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS in some communities in the state.
The Coordinator, Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association, 22 Brigade, Sobi Barracks, Kwara State, Mrs. Salamatu Alkali; and a nurse with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Mrs. Toyin Kutashi, have also thought along this line.
At a sensitisation programme at the Sobi Barracks, on Monday, they lamented that many children had been orphaned as a result of the infections, while some infected women had been unable to contribute meaningfully to their families’ needs and societal growth.
They also noted that many youths had died because of the disease, leading to reduced productive manpower at national level.
Limota said the sensitisation and advocacy programme was one of the group’s ways to engender women’s rights and curb the spread of the virus.
“We believe that army officers’ wives have not been sensitised enough to the challenges poised by HIV/AIDS and the need for prevention and control.
“There’s also the need to draw public attention to where people can access help if they test positive to the virus,” she said.
Alkali urged women to be aware of the implications of contacting the disease and how to prevent it.
Kutashi advised people to go for HIV screening in order to know their status.
She identified unprotected sex, multiple sex partners, illegal transfusion of blood, using unsterilised instruments such as syringe, needles, and clippers in unhygienic barbing salons as some of the avenues through which one contact HIV.
“People should take their personal nail cutters, clippers and other beauty kits to the salon, instead of using the ones that are available to every customer,” she said.
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