Disregarding the fact that 120,000 Zambians – out of a total population of a mere 10.8 million – die of AIDS every year, Andrew Mulenga, Zambia’s Education Minister, has banned the distribution of condoms in schools.  

Unsurprisingly, Mulenga’s rationale is that the distribution of condoms promotes immorality by encouraging young people to have premarital sex.  

Zambia has been devastated by AIDS, and the government is well aware of the fact. According to the BBC, the Zambian ministry of health cooperates with NGOs to promote awareness campaigns in which condoms are distributed to students in schools. Such campaigns are crucial in a country where the average annual income is a heart-breaking $320 U.S. dollars and where AIDS has destroyed much of the professional class.  

Mulenga’s directive, then, contradicts extant government programs to combat AIDS, and will further plunge the nation into AIDS-racked devastation. The life expectancy in Zambia is 33 years for men and 32 years for women — in contrast to America, where men can expect to live until they are 74 and women until they are 80 — and Mulenga’s ban on condoms will certainly worsen these numbers.

Mimi Hanaoka