President Encourages Military to Fight AIDS
Nigeria’s president urged his country’s military brass to distribute free condoms to the armed forces to help fight the spread of AIDS, a newspaper reported.
“We must not allow HIV/AIDS to ravage our armed forces,” the Guardian newspaper quoted Olusegun Obasanjo as telling military commanders and troops in the southwestern city of Ibadan.
An estimated 5.4% of Nigerians are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The figure is believed to be higher in the military.
Obasanjo urged authorities to draw up a code of conduct for the military and step up soldiers’ AIDS education and awareness programs.
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