Oxfam blames spread of HIV to negative cultural practices

The spread of HIV/AIDS in the country is also attributed to unending negative social-cultural practices, Oxfam GB, an International NGO working to end poverty and suffering has said. According to Irene Kaindi, Programme coordinator of Oxfam GB in Rwanda, some Rwandans still worship the outdated traditional beliefs where a woman belongs to the entire family. “We live in an era of this incurable disease. People must be careful,” Kaindi warned during a one-day training seminar held at La Palise Hotel in Nyandungu yesterday. Kaindi said groups sensitising Rwandans on the dangers of HIV/Aids were not open enough. “People especially those in rural areas must be told that when a man dies, the brother should not take ‘care of’ the widow as it is still practiced in some communities,” she cautioned. The training focused largely on the consequences of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s), opportunistic infections and Tuberculosis. Grace Mukankuranga, a trainer said wives in rural areas are inherited and cousins still share wives. The trainers advised risk groups that include teenagers and people who always relocate in their jobs like soldiers to use condoms if they cannot abstain. Ends

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Oxfam blames spread of HIV to negative cultural practices