Monday, April 23, 2007

It’s About Time We Had Condom Dispensers in School

Studies conducted on HIV and STI prevalence in society have proven time and again that the most at risk group are the people aged between 15 – 24. This means that more than half of the population who are at highest risk of contracting HIV & STI’s are still in high school! Furthermore, it is also a fact that the 15 – 24 age group also have the highest HIV & STI infection rates in the land. So, they are not only at high risk of contracting HIV/STI’s, they are also contracting these infections at alarming rates! Faced with these chilling facts, why is society burying its head in the sand? Kenya’s youth are not getting HIV/AIDS through osmosis, they are contracting the disease through sexual intercourse. They are having sex in school, in the bus, in the labs, in the dorms, in the nightclubs…everywhere they get the opportunity. It’s no secret. Nothing we do or say will encourage (or entice) them to have sex, because they already are. In huge numbers! So please do away with this paradigm or thought; Giving youth easy access to condoms will only encourage them to have sex. This thought is rubbish and anyone who believes this is living in a fools’ paradise. The statistics speak for themselves, the youth are not only engaging in sex in wild abandon, but they are also doing it carelessly. One way we can ensure that they do not get infected (because whether we like it or not, they will engage in sex), is to ensure that condom dispensers are readily available in high schools and colleges around the country. Let’s not argue too much about this, coz quite obviously this is what should be done. What do you think?