Juba, 17 January 2007 (PlusNews) - The classroom has become a front line in the fight against AIDS in southern Sudan, where many teenagers are attending school for the first time now that the 21-year civil war has ended.

HIV/AIDS programmes are few and far between, and ignorance about the pandemic is widespread. Southern Sudan's HIV prevalence is estimated at 2.6 percent, a figure some health workers feel is too conservative.

Samuel Ekai, a science teacher in Ganyliel Primary School in Unity State, knows that many of his students are sexually active. According to a 2005 survey by the Sudanese National AIDS Control Programme and UN agencies, less than 10 percent of young people knew what a condom was or how to prevent HIV.

"When I introduce it to them I tell them the details: HIV/AIDS is a serious disease, it has killed so many people in our [neighbouring] countries like Kenya and Uganda, and now it is in southern Sudan," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Local customs, such as polygamy, also put people at risk. "You can find one man having more than 35 wives, which is not good because you cannot satisfy all 35 wives at once," said Ekai. "You have to make a rotation [and], on your way making a rotation, your wife might go with another man."

His students were initially sceptical. "They laughed at me first: they did not know what AIDS meant," Ekai recollected. "But when I went into details, they liked the topic."

Martha Chuol, 15, in class six at Ganyliel primary, said Ekai's lessons had opened her eyes to the risk. "Traditionally, girls can have many boyfriends and boys also have multiple girlfriends, but I have discovered that is wrong. I have only one boyfriend and when he wants us to meet, I tell him to use a condom."

Awareness has brought a greater appreciation of being informed. "I worry so much about the girls and men who have not got education about HIV/AIDS, and I think that it is the duty of the government to help them get that education so that they protect themselves," she said.

The students are also using their knowledge to spread the word. "I inform my friends about HIV/AIDS in various places I visit. I tell my brothers at home and in the church," said her classmate, James Maker, 30. "I tell them that HIV has no cure and it is contracted through sexual intercourse - that is so important to people with many wives."

The Southern Sudan government has established an HIV/AIDS Commission in the office of the presidency to develop policy and coordinate the region's response, but lack of funding means it has accomplished little so far.

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Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]