KADOMA - Multiple Concurrence Relationships (MCP), otherwise known as small houses in Zimbabwe, have been castigated as a major contributing factor to the spread of HIV and AIDS.Even though the country is scoring positive goals in fighting the HIV/AIDS scourge, small houses are working against the efforts. Zimbabwe has an HIV prevalence of slightly over 13 per cent and the rate can still decrease, according to health officials.
Population service International (PSI), which is working flat out to spread the message on preventive mechanisms, defines MCPs as multiple sexual partnerships that overlap in time. MCPs have been identified as a potentially powerful driver of HIV transmission in African countries with generalized epidemics.
“The first three weeks of having contracted HIV/AIDS through having unprotected sex have been identified as the period when the potential spread of HIV/AIDS is highest,” said a PSI spokesperson.
According to PSI 10.7 per cent of all sexually active men and women are engaged in MCPs, and the figure is higher among men than women.
21 per cent of married man are involved in MCs, compared to 5.1 per cent of
married women.
Men who were interviewed by The Zimbabwean said that they engaged in extra-marital relationships with small houses because they were not satisfied by their wives, and simply because it is fashionable.
“A man can have as many wives as possible. It is better to have a small house than to sleep with a prostitute that one does not know well,” commented one man.
Post published in: Opinions