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Condoms above abstinence - UN envoy

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the recent AIDS conference in Bangkok said condoms were not the only answer to AIDS prevention and urged abstinence and faithfulness. However, a senior UN official currently visiting the country, warned that abstinence was not possible among groups vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, like young women in forced marriages. "Recent studies indicate prejudice against young women who are forced into marriage. Such people do not have the power to abstain," Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy on AIDS in Africa, said in a statement. The envoy hailed Uganda's achievements in tackling the pandemic, but said condoms should remain central to tackling the disease.

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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