Navigation
- Home
- Philosophy
- Europe
- Peace efforts
- Poets
- Artists beyond Images
- Culture
- Conferences
- Newsletter
- Links
- Imprint
Aids Day December 1, 2005
Poster for Photo exhibition of HIV people in Zambia
The future of health care for HIV-Aids infected people shall depend whether or not the world can provide the conditions for universal coverage. After the World Health Organization has completed its 5 x 3 program, and while admitting that it has failed to reach its target of 3 million, commentators speaking to BBC World Service say that this program has energized countries to do something about the AIDS pandemic where before only ‘silent death’ reigned, that is patients left to die without any chance of treatment. For this reason the aim of WHO is to initiate a new 10 x 10 program to ensure universal health coverage of all HIV/AIDS infected people.
A lot depends upon changing the perspectives of those affected as well as those linked very close to HIV-Aids infected children and adults, explained Doctor Paul Roux working at Ward G25 of the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. He described how mothers would distance themselves from their children once it becomes known that they have been infected. As if giving up the child to a certain death, the mother sees no longer any perspective for further interaction with her child. He would start treating the child and ask the mother to come with the child at regular intervals to the hospital, that is in three, six and nine months. The mother realizes that she will have a child with a chronic disease but one not to be given up to death. The change in perception and perspective makes itself felt that the mother begins to play again with the child. It is the best indication, says Dr. Paul Roux, that intimate relationship between mother and child counts again and subsequently they communicate again with one another.
Asked about healers in traditional societies of South Africa and elsewhere, Dr. Paul Roux is quick to point out that healers deal with diseases as something cutting off the individual from society. Hence they tend to treat diseases in terms of how the individual can resume contact with the others in the community. Consequently he as a practitioner sees no problems to collaborate with a healer since both aspects are of importance to the health and health care of the individual. At the same time Joshua C.T. Formentera of the ‘Positive Action Foundation’ in the Philippines refers to the many Philippinos working abroad and facing a high risk of being infected. Especially women are most vulnerable subjects due to the high risk of being infected through incidences from sexual abuse in the homes they work in to be raped in what he calls being without protection when outside their own social environment. Since the Philippines depend upon these citizens working abroad as extra source of income, there is a negative economic impact aside from the health factor if they become infected. It can be seen as a decline in financial income.
Most of the time risks are increased as in the case of all migrant workers if they fear being deported rather than treated especially if without legal documents.
In France those without papers are treated as well even though there is a cultural barrier amongst many of them to admit that they have been infected due to bad sexual practices, unhygienic conditions and not heeding preventive measures from use of condoms to forgetting that the body cannot be related to as mere machine which should function all the time. This factor of getting the right treatment in time is crucial as illegal migrant workers are reluctant to go to treatment centers out of fear that the authorities will deport them once it becomes known that they have no legal documents. HIV / AIDS prevention specialist Ion I. Schenker in Jerusalem describes that measures are much tougher there compared to France. Only migrant workers with legal documents are treated while those without are immediately ousted once they become registered as HIV / AIDS positive subjects. Instead of combining prevention with immediate treatment, such practices tend to export the problem if only to re-import it through the circulation of other people, including tourists and people having worked abroad.
While the European Union searches for a new training program, grass roots NGOs protest against a hierarchical structuring of funds privileging Western NGOs over their own organizations even though directly involved with the AIDS pandemic. There is an overall sense that the West does not understand to listen to those ‘other’ voices in developing countries. Inon I Schenker wants to remind that the Jerusalem AIDS Project has taken the initiative that on 1st of December everyone should join in a global effort for increased HIV / AIDS literacy by ringing a bell. The aim is to have on Thursday, December 1st, 2005 1,000,000 bells ring world wide for at least 60 seconds. Everything will do: school bells, hand bells, fire brigade bells, church bells, tower bells, door bells, receptionists’ bells, cow bells and other innovative bells. “The sound of the bells will mark the opening of a global initiative on HIV/AIDS literacy based on knowing how to prevent, while ensuring testing, caring and support go together hand in hand with avoidance of stigmatization of those who have been infected. The bells will ring on 1st December 2005 at 20.00 Greenwich Time. For further information go to
http://www.bells4aids.org
The Jerusalem AIDS Project (JAIP) is a volunteers’ based, non-profit organization focusing on HIV/AIDS advocacy and prevention in Israel, the Middle East and internationally.
Public awareness for the AIDS pandemic needs to be increased by such actions. Too many holds still illusion as to what AIDS means and how people can get infected. The need for prevention has to mean to reflect fore mostly upon sexual practices and once affected how these people can be treated so as to have still a perspective of happiness in this life. For without a sign of happiness linked to social integration it would mean to be merely subjugated to ‘silent death’. The silence in Western Societies about the extent of the pandemic is by all measures of reality already highly alarming. Governments together with the EU Commission are called upon to undertake extra supportive efforts so that health care can be provided in even the most remote areas. For instance, the political repression in many African countries means that entire populations are without access to the media - a way to clamp down on opposition movements. At the same time it means these people cannot be reached by use of the media and this in an age of the Information Society. This is sad enough but then the world drum has not been silenced completely, in particular for those who care to listen what all these people are saying to the world.
Hatto Fischer
28.11.05
This article was published by heritageradio
« The Danish Cartoons and Religious Sentiments | Middle East »