Uganda, one of the nations hardest hit by AIDS, is advocating abstinence above any other prevention measure. The epidemic in Uganda now affects 30 percent of the country’s child bearing population. The nation’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, recently talked about the AIDS epidemic to reporters in Washington:

“AIDS is a loud and urgent symptom of a malady which has pervaded the whole human condition It is a physical manifestation – like environmental degradation, violence, and corruption in high office – of a deep-seated disorder in the spirit of man … People have used sex in all sorts of ways that it was not meant for. It has taken AIDS for us to know what we’ve been doing with our bodies and to learn that we’re really responsible for our lives.”

“Teaching people to use condoms is, at best, only a short-term solution. What works is a change of behavior. Marriage is being used in all sorts of incorrect ways, and our children are watching us. We have to set an example for the young by instilling the virtues of self-control, faithfulness and honesty in relationships. The young represent our chance to survive. We must not fail them.”

“We never really talk about our ethics, our morals, but I feel very strongly that this is the only answer. Ours is a spiritually illiterate generation. The Whole problem is tied in with the breakdown of morals in the world. AIDS is not the problem of Africa alone. It’s a human problem, and we have to treat it as such.”