(Barbados Nation) Greater access to condoms and more openness about sex is needed in Barbados and the region, says a top ranking United Nations official.
Regional director of UNAIDS Caribbean, Dr Ernest Massiah, says this area is extremely knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted, but lamented that the means by which people can protect themselves from HIV/AIDS are not always there.
“That is why we need to provide better information and methods for young people to be able to access condoms, for example,” he said.
“In some countries in this region it is still a case where you have to go to the pharmacy because they [condoms] are available behind the counter. They aren’t available in nightclubs either or schools, so it becomes difficult for young people to actually access them to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.”
