HIV/AIDS leading cause of death for teachers

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among teachers in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to UNICEF, which studied the deaths of 300 teachers last year and found that 85 percent had died from HIV/AIDS. Research by UNAIDS suggests that by 2005 between 25 and 50 percent of all the country’s teachers will have died from AIDS.

UNICEF CAR programme coordinator Diego Zorrilla, told IRIN/PlusNews that UNICEF had carried out a study on the impact of the spread of HIV/AIDS on the mortality of teachers in the CAR in order to understand the causes of the low number of teachers in the country. The study collected data of teachers’ deaths and their causes for the years 1996, 1997 and for the period January to November 1998. The study showed that, out of those deaths for which a cause was established, AIDS was the leading cause of death.

Adjibad Karimou of the UNICEF office in Bangui was reported by the Guardian newspaper as saying that “the average age of female sexual activity is 15, and their first partner is often their teacher. The very people we rely on to teach pupils how to protect themselves against AIDS are often the ones passing on the virus.” According to the newspaper, in some villages HIV infection is cited as the main reason for girls failing to finish their education. Boys have not encountered the same problem, because they usually bribe their teachers with beer and cigarettes rather than sex.

The death of so many teachers from HIV/AIDS led to the closure of 107 educational establishments between 1996 and 1998, and the remaining schools have had to merge classes to take in abandoned students. “AIDS is having a huge impact on our education system and our entire society. Nobody can really imagine what the future holds for us,” CAR Minister of Education Elois Anguimatez was reported as saying.