We need to break the taboo and highlight the importance of sex education – Rev.Bhagwan

We need to break the taboo and highlight the importance of sex education to our young people.

This was a response from the Pacific Conference of Churches General Secretary Reverend James Bhagwan when asked by fijivillage News on what the church can do to bring change in the community concerning HIV/AIDS.

Reverend Bhagwan says in the Fijian context and also in the Pacific, talking about sex is sort of a ‘taboo’ but we need to break that barrier.

He says the Pacific Conference of Churches has been trying to engage in the issue of HIV/AIDS for almost 20 years now.

He says the challenges in the church right now are that they need to re-look at what people need to do and what is the right way of family planning, and in particular how to protect our young people who are most vulnerable to ideas being pushed on them, and helping them making a right decision.

He adds the Pacific Conference of Churches is willing to support the Fiji Council of Churches if they need any assistance.

Meanwhile, the number of new HIV infections in Fiji has surged by a staggering 260 percent since 2010, making Fiji the second fastest-growing epidemic in the Asia Pacific region.