March 10, 2009

HIV-Positive Nigerians Urged to Wed Each Other

In Bauchi, Nigeria, the state government plans to stem the spread of HIV by encouraging HIV-positive people to marry each other, The Associated Press reports. A new program will offer couples counseling and cash toward a wedding. The program—the first of its kind in Nigeria—is set to be formalized later this year.

The state does not intend to introduce HIV-positive people to one another since that would entail revealing confidential medical information; however, once health officials learn that couples are positive, they will encourage them to get married.

Some health experts fear that these HIV-positive couples will have babies, which will lead to an increase in AIDS orphans. Nigeria had 1.2 million AIDS orphans in 2007 according to the United Nations. However, Bauchi’s health officials remain convinced of the plan’s benefits.

According to Britain’s foreign development agency, about 4 million of Nigeria’s 140 million citizens are HIV positive, giving the sub-Saharan African country the second-highest HIV prevalence in the world (South Africa is first; India is third). While Nigeria’s prevalence rates have dropped slightly in the past three years to about four percent, health experts warn the country still has a long way to go before the epidemic is under control.

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