The KwaZulu-Natal health department budget to fight HIV/Aids has been increased to R2.269-billion this year, up from last year's R1.9-billion, and one of the notable aspects in this fight is the campaign to stop older men from sleeping with young girls.

"HIV and Aids remain a challenge for the province and indeed our country," health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo said yesterday.

"Teenage pregnancies, especially involving older men, has often been linked to HIV and Aids.'' he said.

"To raise awareness, we launched the Anti-Sugar Daddy campaign and placed more than 89 billboards across the province to highlight the dangers of sex with older men and to encourage community leadership and the stigma of older men who seek sex with young girls, particularly those between the ages of 14 and 21."

Presenting plans for the department's R26.5-billion budget, Dhlomo said it had been documented that young girls not only fall pregnant and jeopardise their careers, but that they are often infected with HIV and Aids.

"A study by the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa confirms that the increasing HIV prevalence among15- to 29-year-old females may be indicative of early sexual involvement with older men," he said.

Dhlomo called the "sugar daddy habit wrong" and said older men should be discouraged from sexual encounters with girls.

"I hope that none of you [male members of the provincial legislature] in this house are involved in this," said Dhlomo.

The prevalence of HIV in women shows a sharp increase of up to 6%, reaching a peak of about 8% in the 20-24 age group.