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Anger at banning of condoms in schools

    JOHANNESBURG
    AIDS activists, parents and teachers in Zambia have expressed anger at the government's decision to declare schools "condom-free zones". The government banned the distribution of condoms in schools earlier this week, on the grounds that condom availability promoted immorality and pre-marital sex. However, Walter Tapfumaneyi, the HIV/AIDS regional programme coordinator for the NGO, PANOS, told the Inter Press news service that condoms simply afforded protection to those children who did choose to have sex. Tapfumaneyi said: "Young people do not have sex with each other - it is usually with older people, [and] they need to be able to protect themselves. We cannot stop them from having sex, but we can at least stop them from contracting HIV in the process."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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