58% of Nigerian HIV patients are female- UNFPA

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and former Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, has revealed that nearly 58 per cent of Nigerians with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are female.

Professor Osotimehin noted that many Nigerian girls were married off before they were physically and psychologically ready.

While advocating for female rights at a weekly half-hour magazine programme on CNN International “African Voices,” monitored by the Nigerian Tribune, Professor Osotimehin opined that it was not acceptable for them to ask their partners to use condoms or to refrain from sex, hence the need for this gender to be saved from the predicament.

While sharing his experiences at the United Nations (UN) agency, which promotes health and equal opportunity for women and children around the world, Professor Osotimehin said “my passion is to make every woman essence count in the world focusing on women’s and children’s Health in developing countries.

Osotimehin, speaking with the CNN’s correspondent, Aisha Sesay, about his work at the agency, noted that these women were most vulnerable, adding that “their exposure to dangerous diseases and all manners of poverty related situations moved me to venture into this journey of gender equality and reducing poverty, while helping hundreds of millions in developing countries.”