BY MARY SATHULU
Clementine Mumba is a person living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA’s) and she belongs to a support group in Lusaka which advocates on issues of HIV/AIDS and TB. She’s one of the long lived person’s with HIV/AIDS and say’s that a person living with HIV/AIDS is fit to do any kind of work that even a person whose negative does. “Discrimination pushes us away from many things in our life time with the disease we carry,” said Mumba.
In an Interview, she denounced the discrimination that PLWHAs suffer from all sectors of life and said that they are abused in many countries all over the world.
“Although we do not have cure for AIDS, we do know that consistent and courageous policies can halt the spread of the disease and let those infected with HIV live a normal and dignified life. Even though these countries have signed international agreements to do away with such practices, they do not fulfill their duties,” said Mumba.
She called on civil societies to fill the gaps and take up the role of advocacy and HIV/AIDS campaign while leaders and politicians should take a lead in this fight. Future generations depend upon decisions they are making today. The success of our fight against HIV/AIDS depends largely on the political will and leadership, both at national and international levels. The leaders have the means and ways to deliver a bright and future for our generation
The devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the lives of people in high prevalence countries such as Zambia has caused a threat to development, democracy, equity and human rights. Large numbers of people in their most productive years die of AIDS related illnesses daily. High levels of illness and death are eroding the capacity of the African Zambian government, the private sector and civil society to implement programmes and to deliver effective services.
Perhaps more than anything else, the disease stands out as barrier to reaching basic health levels and an acceptance quality of life for Zambians. HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria continue to spread virtually unchecked, thereby threatening the country’s already fragile economy and potentially undermining the welfare of the entire country.
Despite the fact that these three diseases are easily preventable and treatable, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria have become the leading killer diseases not only amongst people living with HIV/AIDS, children below the age of five are also the most-disadvantaged too.
Over the past three decades, Public Health experts have identified a number of highly effective interventions to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. If brought to scale, such efforts could change the course of these diseases.
However, achieving this scale-up will require a substance increase in resources and setting up priorities.
Universal Access to Treatment by 2010
To begin with, leaders of G8 countries acknowledge the need for resources in their 2000 meeting held in Oknawa, Japan, as did African leaders at a summit held in Abuja, Nigeria in April 2001. In Abuja, the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the creation of a global fund to channel massive amounts of additional resources.
A United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS in June 2001 concluded with a commitment to create such a fund, which the G8 endorsed and helped finance their meeting.
One of the most important innovations in the design of the Global Fund is the bringing together of the public and private sectors at all levels of the Global Fund’s and its recipients’ decision-making process. The Global Fund’s operational requirements mean that government institutions work closely with representatives of civil societies (including faith-based organizations), the private sector and communities living with the diseases.
Civil society organizations have also played a crucial role in advocacy from the PLWHA’s inception of the Global Fund, urging donor governments to allocate more funds to the organization to allow for increased access to Universal Access to Treatment by the year 2010. All civil society organizations have different skills and areas of expertise. We need to guard against the potential weakening of the international commitment for universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment.
At the recent G8 summit, held Germany in June this year, for instance, it was observed that commitment on AIDS treatment in Africa, and sub-Saharan in particular, is threatened as Africa needs Universal Access and not 50% Access by 2010.
Just as civil society is trying to energize the global response to reach universal access, considerations on slacken African governments, the last thing it needs is for the G8 to shift the goal posts. Communities have been mobilized towards voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), a critical entry point to prevention, and so we cannot hold back the tempo. We have raised hopes and created demand, and we therefore have a moral obligation to ensure treatment for all.
15% of the Annual Budgets to Health Care Campaign
“Investment in health is significant to resolving this situation” across Africa.
Public Health Systems are in a ramshackle state; as a result, over 8 million African lives are being lost annually to diseases, because people have little or no access to public health services.
Maternal and child mortality, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are the main disease affecting the populations, yet governments have under-invested in health need of citizens by governments.
The Heads of State, at the African Union (AU) meeting in Abuja, Nigeria in 2001 agreed to commit at least 15 per cent national budget to health. But six years later, only two out of 53 AU member countries have clearly met that pledge. The rest of the African leaders spend the lion’s share of budget on things that are not a priority.
Worse still, many of the governments are relying mainly on external efforts and donor funding to resolve their numerous Public Health problems. The leaders of these governments have no trust in the Health Care system of their own countries for treatment and are therefore not committed to resolving the problems.
During the People’s Summit held in Lusaka, Treatment Advocacy Literacy Campaign (TALC) joined the 15% Now Campaign, to advocate that African governments, as a matter of urgency implement their 2001 Abuja Declaration pledge to dedicate 15% or more of annual budgets to Health Care NOW!
TALC urged African governments to make the adoption of comprehensive health strategies a top priority, including the involvement of Health Care Workers, people living with the diseases and civil society in setting measurable targets of progress.
Brain drain in the Health Sector was also identified as a major factor contributing to the poor state of Health Care System in Africa. Some developed countries maintain domestic Public Health Policies that promote the recruitment of Health Care Workers from Africa.
Improving Health Care Systems in Africa will require developed nations to abandon such practices. Because developed countries have benefited from poaching African health care workers, they have a moral responsibility to promote the training of Health Care Workers to improve Africa’s Health Care Workforce.
However, ordinary citizens in Africa are not informed enough to lobby their governments to adopt proper Public Health Policies. The citizens are not adequately informed and it’s the job of organized Civil Society to inform and mobilize ordinary people to campaign for their right to health and life. Given the critical importance of good health to national development an obvious question is why African governments pay little attention to the matte.
“There’s a phenomenon that health is a private matter, but the truth is, every single citizen’s health issue, when brought together presents a collective challenge. We may die individually of TB, Malaria or HIV/AIDS, but collectively our deaths impact society as a whole. Ordinary citizens in Africa have two choices – either we campaign for our government to accord our right to health, or we continue to die.
Implementing the agenda of the 15 percent Now! Campaign, coupled with international donor support and policy change, offers the best chance for African governments to address the health need for ordinary citizens.
