Burundi's military lags behind in fight against HIV/AIDS

The Burundian military lags behind other sectors of the east African nation in the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to a survey presented here Tuesday at a workshop. At the launch of a four-day HIV/AIDS training workshop, Elie Mupera, director of health at the country's Defense Ministry, said Burundian soldiers needed to be trained on how to protect themselves against the HIV scourge because "they do not know much about it." "A survey made in 2011 in the country's military barracks shows that the HIV prevalence in the army is a bit above the country's 2 percent," Mupera said. He said the survey showed 32.7 percent of Burundian soldiers were not informed on how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS, and only 19.5 percent of them have protected sex through using condoms. "The war which hit Burundi for more than 10 years and the fact that members of the army live far from their families for a prolonged period accelerated their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS," he said.