AS the world looks forward to the International Condom Day (ICD), AHF Nigeria has urged Nigerians to use condom for protection from the consequences of casual sex.

ICD, which is celebrated on February 13, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, was established by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a U.S.-based non-profit founded in 1987 in response to the AIDS epidemic. The organization celebrates the holiday by handing out free condoms. Every February 13, ICD seeks to remind the public that condoms prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy.

In a statement, yesterday, AHF Nigeria Country Programme Director, Dr Echey Ijezie, noted: “Condoms are still the best option for helping you and your partner keep intimate times safer and fun.

“In this regard, on February 13, a day preceding Valentine’s Day, AHF Nigeria shall be holding a road walk starting from the AHF Nigeria Benue Programme Office at 10, Jona Jang Crescent, Makurdi, to the Tito gate area of the city.”

During the walk, he added, there would be public education on condom to harp on the need for correct and consistent use of the commodity, while free condoms shall be distributed to the people.

AHF is also strategically targeting the youth population with messages of abstinence, but for those who are unable to abstain, to use condom consistently and correctly. The youth engagement is in collaboration with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Programme (NASCP), Lagos state AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) the National Youth Network on HIV/AIDS Population and Development (NYNETHA).

The youth engagement will be through Twitter Spaces and a dedicated podcast that is being produced with contents generated from young people in Abuja, Benue, Cross River and Nasarawa states.

“The emphasis on reaching both the adult and youth population with condom education stems from the need to create and expand access to accurate information that supports safer sexual practices in the population, which can halt the tide of new infections being recorded,’’ said Ijezie.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over one million people globally acquire an STI every day, and 117 million new HIV infections, since 1990, have been averted through the condoms use.

The statement reads: “This is why, on ICD and beyond, the world must remember that condoms are safe, sexy, and essential to ending HIV/AIDS.

“On ICD 2024, we urge everyone worldwide to remember that condoms save lives and remain the best option for preventing HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies.”