According to UNICEF figures from 2009, more than 14 percent of the adult population in Zimbabwe has HIV/AIDS. A politician in the country is drawing attention to that issue, but not in the way you might hope.
He has sparked outrage with some out-there (to put it mildly) suggestions for curbing the spread of the disease, the Huffington Post reports. Some highlights: women should shave their heads, stop bathing and make themselves look unattractive:
Morgan Femai, an MDC-T senator for Chikomo said the measures were required because men were finding it difficult to resist well-dressed, attractive women.
While addressing a parliamentary HIV awareness workshop in Kadoma on Friday, he said: “What I propose it that the government should come up with a law that compels women to have their heads clean-shaven like what the Apostolic sects do,” ZimEye reports.
He added: “They should also not bath because that is what has caused all these problems.”
Senator Femai also suggested female circumcision would help stop the spread of disease.
He told the workshop, which was organised in conjunction with the National Aids Council: “Women have got more moisture in their organs as compared to men so there is need to research on how to deal with that moisture because it is conducive for bacteria breeding. There should be a way to suck out that moisture.”
Deborah Jack, chief executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust) told Huffington Post UK: "These suggestions of how to fight the spread of HIV are totally misleading [and] potentially really damaging."
Jack also suggested that people visit HIVaware for reality-based information about curbing the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Read more at the Huffington Post.