TACKLING AIDS THREAT

Bangladesh is less prone to AIDS because of the conservative social system. Sex before marriage is considered a taboo, not only in Muslim communities, but also among Hindu, Christian and Buddhists. So far Bangladesh has only 363 registered AIDS patients and most of them carried the virus from abroad. However in a study released in January 2002 by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS found there were 13,000 people with HIV out of a population of 130 million.

So there is a growing concern among the government and the NGOs to propagate the precautions against this disease. A recent survey found that only 19 percent of married women and 33 percent of married men had heard of the disease. There are some controversial campaigns going on which are widely criticized. But how can you be modest when you have to be explicit about sexual behaviors. Read about the campaigns here.

In Bangladesh usually most of the marriages are arranged by families. And people who work in affluent countries are given preference. But it has been noticed that AIDS spreads from those persons working abroad. So Dr. Mustafa Abdur Rahim suggests in an article "should not we insist on blood test before marriage?". A must read.