Peacekeeping missions under threat by AIDS

Armed forces, particularly those in UN peacekeeping missions, are at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, a new UNAIDS case study has found. The report, "HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Among Armed Forces and UN Peacekeepers in Eritrea", said military personnel were two to five times more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than the civilian population. UNAIDS shows an 11 percent HIV-infection rate among Nigerian peacekeepers returning from duty in Sierra Leone and Liberia in 2000, when the rate among Nigeria's civilian adults was 5 percent. Previous research has suggested that worldwide, peacekeeping operations may pose a danger of spreading HIV. South Africa's Institute of Strategic Studies has warned that unless the spread of HIV among armies from high-prevalence countries was curbed, many of these countries would be unable to participate in future peacekeeping missions.