By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has revealed that a survey conducted by NOIPolls indicated that eighty three per cent of respondents agree on the importance of condom.
It said Nigerians who responded to the questions believe that people should use condom.
The survey was on “Condom accessibly and use in Nigeria”, presented to the public as part the series of activities earmarked to celebrate the 2020 International Condom Day (ICD) held annually by AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Speaking at the presentation in Abuja, AHF-Nigeria country Director, Dr. Echey Ijezie, said the foundation has distributed over 8 million free condoms in Nigeria since 2011 when they commenced operations.
He said “Getting free condoms to people who need them the most have always been a priority for AHF”.
He added that “We are stepping our advocacy in 2020 to help break down barriers to access, because condoms remains the most cost effective option we have for prevention of HIV, STIs and unplanned pregnancies.”
Ijezie said ICD is observed annually on the 13th of February through Valentine’s Day 14th to promote safer sex awareness in a fun and creative way. The Chief Executive Director of NOIPolls, Dr Chike Nwangwu, who presented the survey result, said it was carried out across the six geopolitical zones, administered to 1000 respondents and it has a 95% per cent confidence level.
He said the survey showed that 9 in 10 Nigerians know what a condom is, 84 per cent believe it should be used but only 34 per cent actually use it. Some of the reason given by the 66 percent respondents who don’t use it, include: “It is against my religion”, “I don’t indulge in premarital sex”, “I have just one partner/married”.
