Creative HIV Prevention or Socialized Marriages?

Here's something that caught our eye: in an effort to stem the spread of HIV in one Nigerian state, the government has set up a program to encourage HIV-positive people to marry each other.

According to a report on CNN, the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (BACATMA) offers to pay the dowry for HIV-positive couples who get married. It will also provide counseling and a job within the department.

Rilwanu Mohammed, the BACATMA chairman, told CCN, "If someone having HIV marries another HIV-AIDS person, that means there will be no HIV transmission to another negative person." Of course, he overlooks an obvious truth: a marriage license does not prevent sex outside of marriage.

Warren Naamara, the UNAIDS Nigeria coordinator, expressed reservations about the program. "There are better methods to address the prevention of HIV and AIDS rather than encouraging that kind of union," he said. "We have made it very clear from UNAIDS that the best way to address HIV infection is universal access to prevention, treatment and care."

Still, if state-sponsored marriages do little to spread HIV infection, they may help combat the stigma against HIV-positive people in Nigeria.

What do you think? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

You can read the CNN article here.