( CNN ) -- The young man 's call echoed throughout the remote village in northern Nigeria -- the marriage ceremony was about to begin . Umar Ahmed and his wife wait for anti-HIV drugs at a hospital in Nigeria . Under the dusty sun , the fathers of the bride and groom agreed to the marriage and this ancient Muslim tradition proceeded as it has for hundreds of years . But unknown to the gathered villagers , the couple is hiding a modern secret . Both bride and groom are HIV-positive and marrying with the support of a local government program that encourages such `` HIV-marriages '' in the hope of preventing the virus from spreading . After the ceremony and away from the village , the husband agreed to speak with CNN as long as he was not identified . `` The woman I marry loves me -- I love her , '' he said . `` And we promised that we can keep ourselves healthy and clean . '' According to the United Nations , Nigeria has the third-largest HIV population in the world , with about 3.1 percent of its 148 million people infected . Officials working for the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of AIDS , Tuberculosis and Malaria , known as BACATMA , hope to put a dent in those numbers -- not just by treating HIV-positive people with free antiretroviral drugs but , they say , by helping more than 100 HIV-positive couples marry . The agency offers to pay for the dowry , provide counseling and even employment within the agency . BACATMA officials hope that , by keeping HIV-positive couples together , they will keep AIDS from spreading to anyone not infected . `` If someone having HIV marries another HIV-AIDS person , that means there will be no HIV transmission to another negative person , '' said Rilwanu Mohammed , the BACATMA chairman . However , UNAIDS , the UN agency tackling HIV and AIDS , has its doubts , arguing such marriages do not prevent the spread of AIDS . `` There are better methods to address the prevention of HIV and AIDS rather than encouraging that kind of union , '' said Warren Naamara , the UNAIDS Nigeria coordinator . `` We have made it very clear from UNAIDS that the best way to address HIV infection is universal access to prevention , treatment and care . '' There is no evidence that such marriages stop the spread of AIDS . However , for many of the couples , the marriages support their personal fight against AIDS and the stigmatization it often brings from society , friends and family . That stigmatization can lead HIV-positive people to become outcasts , discriminated against and sometimes physically abused . Queuing for their antiretroviral drugs at a local hospital , Umar Ahmed and his wife said they married last year and have since had a child . `` Before , I was lonely , '' Umar said . `` Being with my wife , I feel great -- because we stay together , we discuss different issues together . '' For those couples who decide to have children , BACATMA tries to reduce the odds that the child will be born infected with HIV by ensuring that the parents have antiretroviral agents and medical advice . Still , the decision to have a child is a controversial one when the parents who decide to do so are sick and unlikely to be able to raise the child .
Local agency will pay dowry , offer counseling , to get HIV-positive couples to wed . The goal is to keep HIV from spreading to people not already infected . UN agency says marriage does n't stop AIDS , prevention and treatment needed . For some couples , the marriages reduce stigma of being HIV-positive .