FIRST Lady Christine Kaseba has called for condom availability and other contraceptives to young ones to prevent them from unwanted pregnancies, early marriages and contracting HIV.
Dr Kaseba said yesterday in Cape Town in an interview at a lodge where she is staying in Camps Bay area that many youths were already engaging in sexual activities and yet were excluded from a number of interventions.
She said while Zambia was a Christian nation, it was important that adolescents were protected.
“I personally feel that we should make condoms and other contraceptives available to our young ones especially in schools in view of the advent of HIV. This group is also exposed to early marriages, unwanted pregnancies and contraction of various sexually transmitted diseases.
“What is important is to furnish them with appropriate information. We need to re-strategise on our young ones because there is an increase of HIV related deaths among these adolescents. So why hold on to give them condoms in schools, why hold on to give them contraceptives and we know the consequences of not availing them these interventions,” she said.
Dr kaseba said Zambia had made tremendous progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS but it was unfortunate that the number of young ones dying from AIDS related diseases was on the rise.
She said HIV is a sexual reproduction condition and it was important to look at the root cause of HIV so that lives of the young people could be saved.
“Our current laws allows for a 16 year old to get married. So why not avail such a 16 year old with information and the tools such as condoms and contraceptives. Of course we should have the parents or guardians consent to do that but it should be done,” she said.
Dr Kaseba called for more investment in research saying even herbal medicines such as the Sondashi Formula and others could be developed and used if they proved to be working well.
She said the Sondashi Formula was currently undergoing trials in South Africa and if the results would indicate that it could treat or cure HIV, then South Africa would benefit more because Zambia would be buying the drug from South Africa.
She said the importance of research could not be over emphasised as the country would be able to partner with others in the region to research on drugs and ensure sustained availability.
She said sex workers should also be harnessed if the spread of HIV was to be reduced further.
“We don’t talk about these people because we proclaim Christian nation. But let’s look at what other countries have done. In Europe they have decriminalise sex work. They screen the sex workers for diseases so that they become official. Us, we condemn and yet their numbers are growing. Sex workers also need protection and they can get this if they are legalised,” Dr kaseba said.
She was hopeful the on-going 17th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) under the theme Zero infections, should serve as a platform for Zambia to showcase the achievements achieved so far in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
She reiterated that the late first democratically elected South African President nelson Mandela when he opened the ICASA conference in 2000 emphasised the need for opening up on the pandemic and from that time, Africa had seen real change as more people living with HIV started to open up.
Later the First Lady met a delegation from the Global Fund led by Executive Director Mark Dybul and a delegation from the National AIDS Council (NAC) led by Chairperson Joshua Banda.
She is today expected to return to Zambia.
Mama Kaseba should be appointed Minister of Health. She is extremely doing way better job than the current Minister including the late combined. The current minister whatever his name is – aba intwani – is the shadow of himself.
Camps Bay area is a very expensive area.Your tax payers money at work in keeping the first Lady in luxury.
Uh! all because she is advocating to “provide condoms, legalise prostitution, provide contraceptives and access to safe arbotion care to the children….”? sounds like an orgy to me. what will she advocate for next? ideal buildings for the adolescents to have premarital sex from? This does not sound very motherly to me.
By the way, can she give similar advice to her own children? Next she’ll start championing homosexuality!
Condoms are available to zambian adults, but look at HIV rates. what more will it be in the hands of immature adolescents? first Lady, you are a mother- please dont mislead OUR children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She is simply hijacking someone else’s job. How is the health minister going to compete
With his master’s wife impossible, mama needs to acquire those for them,
This is too radical. Giving out condoms to 16 yr olds is not going to solve the sin of promiscuity among young people instead it is going to enhance it. I respect the sacredness of the bible which says no sex before marriage and outside marriage. if these principles are promoted and upheld who not talk about Hiv. sex is for procreation, unity and pleasure but the concentration of pleasure is going against the meaning of sex as God wanted. The best solution is to promote faith and family values in our society. We have to stand for good values in families, schools, media. You give them condoms, one day they will be curious to go for without it. So lets promote faith rather than science disconnected with faith.
Well said!
As much as I would like to agree with you, we do not live in an ideal world. There will always be promiscuity. I mean, even priests commit adultery and molest little boys, what more hormone-charged teenagers and the pressure that comes with the changes. Not that it is to be condoned, but it will happen. It has been known to happen ever since recorded history, and to assume that it will not continue for the next 1000 years and more (for as long as the planet and human life continue to exist) is to operate from a premise of denial and unrealistic expectation, no disrespect. Better have them protected, and supplement that with sex education and moral (religious or otherwise) guidance, cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Whether you like it or not teens will always want to experiment. So in short for those who can not abstain condoms are partly the way to go. The problem with most Zambians they like criticizing even where there’s no need to do so.
16 year olds should not be allowed to have sex not even with condoms. Sex is only for married people and I believe that is what the Bible says. What kind of a future are we building here, Dr. Kaseba? What is Fornication to you? Do you give your Children condoms, Dr. Kaseba?
Kaseba is a product of a marriage to Ukwa thru Fornication. She was a SEX worker for Ukwa and she toppled the incumbent.
On the other hand, what she is saying is true. I mean on the part of Zambia being declared a Christian nation but fornication is rampant. The church is spreading so to is fornication.
It seems the impact of the church is failing to stern the tide of fornication. It is about time we evaluated the whole moral behavior in Zambia and parental control. Zambia is tearing apart and we raising a generation of people that might not have values and morals. SEX and cheating in marriages will be a norm like in Botswana
@Lazi: If you did not have sex when you were a teenager, and only had it when you got married (assuming you are married, otherwise you should still be a virgin) the you are exceptional. As I point out above, there will always be teenage sex and sex outside marriage, even if you were to introduce the death sentence. Look at the Islamic countries which are even more strict and have extreme punishments for such behaviour. This does not mean condoning it. It only means facing reality and, if we can not stop it, at least let us create a safe environment by teaching proper ways of doing it. If you are using christianity as a guideline, imagine that even priests commit adultery and molest little boys.
This is not to say this is alright, nor is it an attack on christianity. This is just to say that if even priests who are supposed to uphold the Biblical law can not control their urges, why expect perfection from teenagers. Sex outside marriage is a different argument, supported by Biblical verse, but just because the Bible is your guide does not mean it is everyone else’s. Biology suggests that from puberty one is ready for sexual engagement. It is because of the need to finish school and mature into a self-reliant adult as determined by the nature of the society of today whereby it is recommended that young people should not get pregnant. This standard was set by the effects of the industrial revolution, not by the laws of nature or God. In our earlier societies we married at age…
The issue of availing condoms to youngsters has been raging on for a while now. Whether we like it or not, our children do have sex, and usually unprotected. Let us be realistic for once: condoms can be availed to the young ones but this should go with a lot of sensitization, not only by the health workers but active involvement of the parents and guardians. FACT: our children know a lot more about sex than we want to admit! It’s a fact of life. What more with technological advancements!
Correct.
@lazi u misunderstood the doctor,the world has changed whether we like it or not,teens are hitting puberty early and they are exposed to a lot of vices,so why not give them access to rubbers to prevent unwanted pregnancies and diseases,we might as well go all the way,we often read stories of hundreds of school children impregnated and I bet half of those get hiv
Well said 3.2@ Equalizer .That is true pragmatism right there.
@Enka, 7: Thank you.
But for sixteen years olds, no I am against that campaign. The Sixteen years should abstain.
@Chris Mwaba
But can they abstain in reality? No offence meant, but when did you as an individual start having that strong desire for sex? It’s in the teens and no matter what, this is the time when experiments are most exciting! Taboo as it may sound, we have to accept it and live with it. DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY CAN ABSTAIN????
I would like to recommend the first lady for the work being done. It is imperative in schools to encourage abstinence. Sex before marriage is a sin. Sex is only for married people. Let us not divert from the biblical teachings but encourage sex after marriage. Marriage is holy.
it is commend, not recommend
Equalizer!!! You are wrong on this one… Let’s always try to do what is right! Sin is Sin no matter how you, the Equalizer can sugar coat it! I can only tell you to get yourself straight on this matter. Let us face it, Dr. Kaseba is wrong. SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE IS NOT UNACCEPTABLE. Zambia tops in Africa for early marriages because of people like yourself and Dr. Kaseba who encouraging Children to be having Sex.
NOT ACCEPTABLE
VIVA FIRST LADY, ATLEAST YOU ARE BOLD ENOUGH TO FACE THE PROBLEM SQUARELY. COUNTRIES THAT HAVE LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION OFFER HEALTH SERVICES FOR PROSTITUTES WHO IN TURN PLAY IT SAFE WITH THEIR CLIENTS. MOST OF OUR LAWS REGADING SEX AND TEENAGERS ARE ACTUALLY AT VARIANT WITH MOTHER NATURE. IF A GIRL COMES OF AGE AT 12 WHAT THAT ENTAILS IS THAT SHE IS RIPE FOR SEX AND IF A BOY START HAVING WET DREAMS THEN HE IS READY STICK IT IN AND FIRE. YES THESE GIRLS AND BOYS MUST BE GIVEN CONTRACEPTIVES. THOSE WHO TALK ABOUT SEX BEING A PRIVILEGE FOR MARRIED PEOPLE LIVE IN A DREAM WORLD BECAUSE THERE ARE A GOOD NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE THEIR ENTIRE LIVES WITHOUT GETTING MARRIED, AND YOU CAN NOT DENY THEM THE ENJOYMENT OF SAFE SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE. IF ANYTHING WHAT IS MARRIAGE IF NOT LEGALIZED SEX?
@Lazi, Time has told in the past, and time will tell in the future. I respect your entitlement to your opinion, but I beg to differ. As much as I respect your religion and your entitlement to it, it is not a universally accepted standard measure, neither has it been known at any time in history to eradicate what you call sin. I appreciate your moral attitude, which I hope you yourself do live by, not because I would judge you if you did not, since I do understand human weakness, but because for your own sake it would be self defeating to sit on such a high horse and yet fail to live up to it yourself, not just on the issue of sex but any other ones of what you call sin.
It seems there are valid points on either side of the debate here, depending on which side of the bread is buttered for you.
But i’m of the view that sex should never be allowed and encouraged among the teens- For the sake of christ, otherwise Zambia will be no different fron Sodom and Gomorah.
Better we unite and strongly emphasize on what is right for our children, instead of giving in to their vices and support the same.
I don’t think the solution is to encourage my child with the unusual behaviour if i fail to control her/him by providing the tools required for the perpetuation of such behaviour..
All those supporting the motion of giving condoms to teenagers. I would like you to think deeply on your level of faith in humanity and in Christ. You seem to have lost hope that humanity can turn and view sex as God originally made it for. You sound like men of little faith. The nation without faith is dead. I exalt you all to respect God the source of life. We are busy thinking of solution to HIV putting the principles of God aside and you think the world will be heaven on earth? the distribution of condoms is temporal solution to the problem as it is purely human. we have to look at the root of the problem than solving the problem from the result of the problem.
Way to go Doc!
Not too long ago this lady was championing for Gay rights..now she is advocating sex for 16 year olds???.. lets be objective here, what these 16 year olds need is sex education and emphasis should be on abstinence . Use of condoms should not be the primary objective.She sounds objective but our society and culture norms are totally different from the west.
Thats why you have so many unwanted pregnacies amongst young girls, SOAs, High mortality rate, Not to mention so many young girls all over the streets enganging in illicity activies instead of chasing their carreers, all because of sticking to your culture which bring no substantial benefits for both the country and their families! Learn to move with time for the benefit of everything and everyone, whether you like it or not, they will have sex, besides prevention is way better and cheaper than cure!
For the first and hopefully not the last, I agree 100% with Dr. Kaseba. She wants to legalize the sex industry — this is a bold, brave and great move. A legal sex industry will see a spike in foreign direct investment — just look at South Africa, Botswana, Germany, the U.S., Japan, Australia, etc. They all have a thriving sex industry.
The “we are a Christian nation song” can only take us so far. Don’t the Americans say “God bless America” and “In God we trust”, yet they have a thriving sex industry?
Bring it on Dr. Kaseba — legalize sex!
#OneZambia
I cant believe this is coming from you!
At the risk of further attracting more hatred, I would like to bring to remind people that not all Zambians are Christians!
With that said, you can not raise your children with fear: “Listen to God’s words or burn in hell!”. Such words will only work until your kids can read … then what will you tell them? The story of “burning in hell” will not work when they have a burning in their pants! You need to tell your children why sex before a certain age is discouraged — the truth, which is that they are not ready to handle the responsibilities that come with sex; such as guilt, disease, addiction, pregnancies, shame, satisfaction, etc.
Ideally, kids should not be having sex, but in the event that they do, they should use condoms.
#OneZambia
Ugly smile
Uh! “lets provide condoms, legalise prostitution, provide contraceptives and access to safe arbotion care….” sounds like an orgy to me. what will we provide next? ideal buildings for the youths to have premarital sex from? This does not sound very motherly to me. By the way, can she give similar advice to her own children? Next she’ll start championing homosexuality!
condoms are available to zambian adults, but look at HIV rates. what more will it be in the hands of immature adolescents? first Lady, you are a mother- please dont mislead the children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!