The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria, on Friday, said it has targeted the youth population in Benue State with messages of abstinence from sex or using condoms consistently and correctly.
AHF explained that the idea would be to commemorate the 2024 International Condom Day (ICD) while educating the public to use condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS, other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies.
The Advocacy and Marketing Manager of AHF, Steve Aborishade, in a statement made available to journalists in Makurdi, noted that the foundation was also strategically targeting the youth population with messages of abstinence, and that those who were unable to abstain should use condom consistently and correctly.
He quoted the AHF Nigeria Country Programme Director, Dr Echey Ijezie, as stating that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recorded over one million people globally acquiring an STI every day, and that 117 million new HIV infections had been recorded since 1990. He added that, "This is why, on ICD and beyond, the world must remember that condoms are safe, sexy and essential to ending HIV/AIDS."