Fijian president calls for sexually responsible nationals

Suva, Dec 1 (IANS) Fijian President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau has urged the citizens of his country to be sexually responsible and ensure reduction of the merciless disease AIDS.

Nailatikau said it while leading a procession through the capital city of Suva Saturday to mark World AIDS Day and highlighted various measures to achieve no new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths, Xinhua reported.

“We still need to upscale what we see is working and bring in new innovative ideas that we know can work. The thing about HIV advocacy is that we already know what works and what does not work,” he said.

Considering the conservative society of Fiji, the president said instead of talking bad about HIV/AIDS, parents should educate their children about safe sex.

Fiji’s Ministry of Health has reported 30 new HIV infection cases in first six month of this year.

According to government statistics, at the end of 2011, it was reported that the cumulative total of confirmed HIV cases in Fiji was 420, of which 53 cases were new infections recorded in 2011 alone.

IANS 2012-12-01 16:11:27