By
Melanie Leather
 |
|
Jacob
Zuma, President of South Africa
|
At
least 28% of schoolgirls in South Africa are HIV positive because 'sugar
daddies' are taking advantage of them, the country's health minister warned today.
In
contrast, Aaron Motsoaledi highlighted the fact that only 4% of schoolboys
were HIV positive, The Sowetan newspaper reported.
Mr
Motsoaledi released the figures at a public meeting at Carolina in South
Africa's Mpumalanga province.
He
said: "It is clear that it is not young boys who are sleeping with these
girls. It is old men. We must take a stand against sugar daddies because they
are destroying our children."
He
said 94,000 schoolgirls fell pregnant in South Africa in 2011, with around
77 000 having abortions at public facilities.
"We
can no longer live like that. We want to put an end to it, " he declared.
Some
of the girls who became pregnant and tested positive for HIV were reportedly
between the ages of 10 and 14.
Mr
Motsoaledi has been widely praised for his efforts to help stop the spread of
HIV, with the country backing the world's largest anti-retroviral programme
since Jacob Zuma made him health minister in 2009.
Around
10% of South Africa's population is now living with HIV, official figures show.
Source: The Independent
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