Paying for condoms "prestigious" in Zambia

via IRIN

Given the choice, people preferred to pay for subsidized condoms in attractive packaging because it gave them greater social status, rather than using free condoms, an official in the northern Zambian town of Mpulungu told IRIN.

A high volume of traffic and a low cost of living has made Mpulungu, on Lake Tanganyika, Zambia's only port, an attractive destination for sex workers...

...Free condoms are distributed at health clinics, guest houses and bars, but the subsidized condoms in attractive packaging, against the bland presentation of free condoms, are much more popular, even though they cost about 500 kwacha ($0.10) each.

Kaluba said the socially marketed condoms were preferred, as "sex is prestigious," and the packaging and presentation added to the currency of such condoms.

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[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Zambia: President Invites Four Ex-Presidents for AIDS Indaba

From the Times of Zambia

Four former heads of State and other high level African leaders who are the champions for a HIV/AIDS-free generation project are this month expected in the country for an accelerated meeting on response to the HIV epidemic. The champions are coming at the invitation of President Rupiah Banda and will meet Zambia's leaders from October 19 to 21 to share various regional experiences in response to HIV/AIDS.

National AIDS Council (NAC) spokesperson Justine Mwiinga said during a media breakfast that the champions would use the meeting to gain insight on progress and challenges towards the scaling up of HIV prevention initiatives in Zambia. He said the champions would further utilise the meeting to explore possible solutions to reduce new infections of HIV/AIDS. He said Zambia was still faced with six challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS including low rate of condoms, low male circumcision and gender-based violence.

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BBC: How to stop HIV spreading in Zambia's prisons

via BBC, by Jo Fidgen

Bright spent two years in Zambia's Lusaka Central Prison for selling cannabis but fears he now faces a life sentence.

"I did it because of hunger," says Bright softly.

"There's not much food in prison. Sex has become the way of payment."

"Conditions were bad," he remembers. "We had nshima [maize meal] and beans two times a day. I never felt full."

One day, the cell "captain" gave Bright extra food, then asked him for sex.

"I had never had sex with a man, but I did it. The first time it was painful, but I joined a group of maybe 20 men who did that.

"Mainly they were people who were condemned, or who had been jailed for 25 years. They hadn't seen women for a long time."

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Zambia: Jesuit Aids Activist Says, End Criminalisation of Homosexuality

Bad laws, like faulty condoms and unsafe medical supplies, can spread the virus.

via allAfrica.com, by Rodrick Mukumbira

A Zambian AIDS activist and Jesuit priest, Michael Kelly, has called for the decriminalisation of same-sex relations, and said that the existence of laws banning such relations was fanning the spread of HIV.

"The continued prevalence of such laws is driving people in same-sex relations underground, and making authorities stubborn to the fact that even prisoners are having sex in prison," Kelly told a workshop on the role of the media and parliamentary involvement on HIV and AIDS, held in the Zambian capital on 17 March.

The priest said that instead of "criminalising" sexual orientation, southern African countries should follow the South African example and legalise gay partnerships, "to ensure access to prevention and treatment, as well as the involvement of these people and prisoners in the battle against the epidemic".

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