HIV and Aids activists are angered about the effect Jacob Zuma’s testimony in his rape trial could have. Zuma claims he had consensual sex with the accuser, a 31-year-old HIV-positive activist. He told the Johannesburg High Court he did not use a condom because he believed the risk of contracting the virus from a HIV positive woman was minimal. The Aids education NGO, Soul City, says such a statement is highly irresponsible in a country where one in nine people is HIV-positive. The Treatment Action Campaign’s Nathan Geffen describes Zuma’s belief that taking a shower after having sex reduces the risk of contracting the virus as dangerous and ill-informed.
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