5 ms·

A few Nigerian peacekeepers spread HIV in Cambodia which had been previously relatively free.

brownbat 11y ago
This is a huge concern, but it seems like a broader problem than Nigeria: * Not much is known about the prevalence of HIV among peacekeepers, because the UN rejects mandatory testing. * In 2000, a US Intelligence Council Report estimated an HIV prevalence rate of between 10 and 20% among the armed forces of the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, and an even higher prevalence of 40–60% among the militaries of the war-affected countries of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. * Surveys of Dutch personnel suggest that 45% routinely had unprotected sex with sex workers in Cambodia during a tour there. http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2003&issue=01240&article=00027&type=fulltext http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/pages/articleviewer.aspx?...
- tim333 11y ago
  That's pretty bad. Just testing a bit and leaving the HIV infected ones at home could fix things. That's a lot of Cambodians they are killing to save some embarrassment.
  - knodi123 11y ago
    is the UN's decision motivated by the UN's embarrassment, though? I assumed it was more about the UN's fear of major dropoff in volunteer rates from countries/orgs that would be embarrassed about their infection rates. After all, the UN only exists because of the participation of all the member countries. They are right to fear hurting participation rates... I'm not defending the spread of HIV, just noting that it's a nuanced challenge.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  One can only wonder what kind of peace the Dutch were keeping in the brothels. I was joking once that people in the hellholes of this world have enough problems even without our help. Now I am not sure it is a joke.
  - tinco 11y ago
    You know besides being the abstract concept of 'peace keepers' they are also just human beings.
    - Kristine1975 11y ago
      But human beings should also know that having unprotected sex with a person you don't know is not particularly smart.

This is a huge concern, but it seems like a broader problem than Nigeria: * Not much is known about the prevalence of HIV among peacekeepers, because the UN rejects mandatory testing. * In 2000, a US Intelligence Council Report estimated an HIV prevalence rate of between 10 and 20% among the armed forces of the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, and an even higher prevalence of 40–60% among the militaries of the war-affected countries of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. * Surveys of Dutch personnel suggest that 45% routinely had unprotected sex with sex workers in Cambodia during a tour there. http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2003&issue=01240&article=00027&type=fulltext http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/pages/articleviewer.aspx?...

tim333 11y ago
That's pretty bad. Just testing a bit and leaving the HIV infected ones at home could fix things. That's a lot of Cambodians they are killing to save some embarrassment.
- knodi123 11y ago
  is the UN's decision motivated by the UN's embarrassment, though? I assumed it was more about the UN's fear of major dropoff in volunteer rates from countries/orgs that would be embarrassed about their infection rates. After all, the UN only exists because of the participation of all the member countries. They are right to fear hurting participation rates... I'm not defending the spread of HIV, just noting that it's a nuanced challenge.
venomsnake 11y ago
One can only wonder what kind of peace the Dutch were keeping in the brothels. I was joking once that people in the hellholes of this world have enough problems even without our help. Now I am not sure it is a joke.
- tinco 11y ago
  You know besides being the abstract concept of 'peace keepers' they are also just human beings.
  - Kristine1975 11y ago
    But human beings should also know that having unprotected sex with a person you don't know is not particularly smart.