A Paediatric Nurse and HIV Counselor, Mrs. Roseline Solarin has disclosed that no fewer than 1.9 million Nigerians are living with HIV/AIDs.

While citing UNAIDS and National Agency for the Control of AIDS statistics, Mrs. Solarin said the efflux in HIV/AIDS was common among people within the ages of 15 and 49, adding that Nigeria remained the highest HIV/AIDS widespread country in the world.

The Chief Nursing Officer who doubles as Chairperson of the National Association of Nigeria  Nurses and Midwifery Association of Nigeria(NANNM), Ogun State chapter, spoke in Sagamu at the launch and public presentation of a book titled ‘Sex Education Made Easy,’ a manual to help parents teach sex education with confidence.

She urged the youths to abstain from sex until they are married, and in cases where they cannot practice abstinence, they should wear protective gear in order to protect their lives, health, and future.

Mrs. Solarin, while blaming the high rate of moral decadence in the country to the advent of the internet and social media, urged parents to fulfill their parental responsibilities by giving them sex education. She said:

“We parents are the first teachers to our children. We should not shy away from our responsibility, especially when it comes to sex education. If we refuse to teach them, other people will teach them in the wrong way.”

Mrs. Solarin identified stigmatization and homosexual practice as factors that have forced many people living with HIV/AIDS to become silent thus, making it difficult for them to seek treatment, but they keep spreading the dreadful disease among the unsuspecting and adventurous youth population.

 She however called on government at all levels to re-examine its laws against rape and sexual assault to curtail the ugly trend in the country.