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Documents
GAD Exchange, Issue No.21 August 2000
SADC Communique

   Though it is widely acknowledged that relevant, accurate and appropriate information is one of the key tools in the campaign against the AIDS pandemic, the AIDS story in southern Africa has been largely underplayed.

    "Too many arguments had been made about condoms and adolescents over the years to the extent that the core issue was not dealt with," said Kenneth Ofosu-Barko, UNAIDS head in Zambia at the 13th International AIDS Conference held in Durban, South Africa recently.

    In the three most badly hit countries in the region --Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe-- health systems are on the verge of breakdown, skilled labour forces are being decimated and a new generation of orphans, numbering millions will be the lasting legacy of the AIDS disaster.

    Although more people in the region are coming declaring their condition and living positively with AIDS, it is a relatively new phenomenon lacking the high level profile of well-known and loved personalities. The region has fallen short of the free, frank and open-minded public discussion that has helped countries such as Uganda reverse the destruction that AIDS has wreaked.

    Celebrities in Uganda have come out to publicly declare their HIV status, enabling the average citizen to face up to the reality of the epidemic.

    That reluctance to acknowledge the disease is the reason "Break the silence" was the theme of the 13th International Aids Conference.

    "Let us break the silence by speaking openly and publicly about AIDS and by bringing an end to discrimination against those living with AIDS," said Nelson Mandela, former South African president during the AIDS conference.

    During the recent annual summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Namibia, former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda urged leaders to break the silence on HIV and AIDS.

    Kaunda was among the first African public figures to announce that his son had died of AIDS in 1986. The late Vice President Joshua Nkomo of Zimbabwe, in April 1996 also admitted that his son had died of AIDS. "Thousands of young people are dying of AIDS, but people hide the truth and usually keep it a secret. It is time relatives reveal the truth," said Nkomo.

    The 11th International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa, held in Zambia in 1999, saw government representatives of Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe declare AIDS as a national disaster and committed themselves to encourage dialogue, at all levels, on related issues that will facilitate an open and supportive environment for people infected by HIV.

    Many awareness programmes have been introduced as result and the media in the region is working hard to sensitise and remove the misconceptions about AIDS.

    Since AIDS is considered to be a social issue which requires expanded community participation at all levels, Community Based Care (CBC) projects have mushroomed throughout the region, where people are increasingly taking ownership of the projects, ensuring sustainability, sharing of responsibilities and the mobilisation of local resources.

    Counselling centres have been introduced throughout the region, where trained personnel discuss in detail with people on AIDS-related issues. The discussions help people to be more open about the disease.

    Unlike other major diseases, AIDS comes with a value judgment that imparts an instant stigma. Feelings of shame engulf those infected.

    However, part of the problem lies in the manner in which HIV/AIDS was first packaged and presented to the public. There is open admission that the language that was initially adopted was wrong:

    "If we were not crushing, combating, fighting or otherwise warring with AIDS, we created fear, then people became defiant and finally rebelled," said Barko.

    Amidst the confusion of irrational ideas and behaviours prompted by AIDS, the media can play a key role in ensuring that the region responds in an informed, responsible and considered way to the problems presented by the presence of the virus.