NERCHA Director Derrick von Wissel says there seems to be no correlation between polygamy and HIV and AIDS, reports The Swazi Weekend Observer.
He says people who intend to address HIV and AIDS on the perspective of polygamy should be careful because some countries practice polygamy but their prevalence rate is much lower than that of Swaziland.
He says countries such as Botswana and Lesotho do not practice polygamy, but the prevalence rate there is still high. Von Wissel was speaking at the Worship Centre during the Couples Imbizo yesterday.
Meanwhile, Worship Centre Pastor Justice Dlamini says the three-day Couple’s Imbizo at his church was not meant to validate polygamy. “If people will come here hoping to hear us validating or discrediting polygamy they will be disappointed,” he said.
He says he was aware that the advertisements issued by his church, inviting polygamists had been misconstrued. Pastor Dlamini says the aim of the conference was to track the fault line in the family structure and to identify areas of development. He says all efforts by government to curb the spread of HIV will not yield fruit if people continue to disregard moral values.
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Do you believe that people who are in polygamous marriages stand a higher risk of catching HIV than people who are in single partner relationships?
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i believe that polygamous marriages are at higher risk of catching as the man in that relationship is sexually active with each and everyone of his wives.