Sudanese health minister's advocacy of condoms sparks protest

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7552.1233

BMJ 2006;332:1233 (27 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7552.1233

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Sudanese health minister’s advocacy of condoms sparks protest

London Peter Moszynski

Sudan’s new health minister, Dr Tabitha Sokaya, has provoked a political storm by publicly advocating condom use to stem the country’s HIV crisis.

Although the extent of the problem was largely unrecognised until monitoring began in southern Sudan last year, latest UNAIDS figures show that Sudan has the highest prevalence in north Africa and the Middle East, with 1.6% of adults and 3-8% of youth infected. An estimated 23 000 people have died of AIDS related illness.

Dr Sokaya, who holds a PhD in nursing from Birmingham University, in the United Kingdom, returned to Sudan after last year’s comprehensive peace agreement (BMJ 2005;330:110), and was appointed minister of health in the national government established in September.

She is the first woman to hold the post and the first Christian. Her job was one of four cabinet ministries awarded to the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in the . . . [Full text of this article]

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