DRC: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Police to launch HIV/AIDS campaign

JOHANNESBURG, 24 Dec 2002 (PLUSNEWS) - The armed forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are expected to launch a countrywide HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said last week.

UNFPA said a meeting held on 3 December with the International Centre for Migration and Health (ICMH), ended with a consensus on priority actions to be taken by both the military and police at all levels.

These priorities included education programmes to disseminate HIV/AIDS messages, condom distribution, studies and workshops.

DRC Defence Minister Irung Awan said HIV/AIDS had become "an occupational hazard for uniformed men and women around the world".

Rwandan and Ugandan forces, both of which had spent several years in the DRC, had a particularly high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, UNFPA said.

UNAIDS estimates prevalence rates for sexually transmitted infections among armed forces at 2 to 5 times higher than among civilian populations and adds that in times of war, this figure could increase to 50 times higher than the rates for civilian populations.

To access the full report: http://www.unfpa.org/news/2002/features/congo.htm

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