Zimbabwe: a country in denial

Zimbabwe: a country in denial

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• Tendai: 'Westerhof can change his name'

• Westerhof hits back in row with ex-wife

• Tendai Westerhof's donor stunt unconvincing

• Third of Zimbabwe teachers HIV positive

• Serial rapist behind bars after school horror

• Martin Takawira: Spare a thought for Maidei

• Dr Frenk Guni: Death by denial, a country in peril

• Mandela tells world son died of Aids

• Aids leaves 1m children as family heads

• Donor mistrust multiplies Zim's Aids crisis

• Is marijuana the elusive Aids cure?

• Zim appeal for Aids money turned down

• Half Zimbabwe's troops HIV positive

• Mugabe: I lost relatives to Aids

• MPs tested for Aids

• MPs to take HIV tests

• Zim immigrants account for half UK aids cases

By Martin Takawira

TODAY is World AIDS Day.

We remember all those killed, living and also affected by this disease. I, like many of you have been affected by HIV. In Zimbabwe, 1 in 4 people is HIV positive and 500 people die daily due to AIDS related illness.

My question today is: Are we doing enough to prevent further infections both from a government and individual perspective? My 12 years experience of working in the British National Health Service (NHS) tells me NO.

The Zimbabwe government recently claimed that the number of new infections had gone down..This was meant to be praise to health promotion initiatives. Rewind a few weeks back, the same government admitted that kits for HIV testing were in shot supply due to foreign exchange shortages. To me this contradicts the first point about reduction in infection rates.

How can the government possibly say the rate of infections has gone down when people still have to pay to have an HIV test and by their own admission, testing kits are in short supply? Common sense dictates that the majority of people are not going to have tests as they don’t have money. At whatever cost, it is too expensive for people to have to pay for any HIV test. Many people would possibly not have tested anyway due to the lack of provision of HIV drugs. If the government was truly serious about HIV, this is the first thing that should have been done in the fight against the disease.

The accessibility to HIV drugs is out of reach to many back home due to cost factors. I agree possibly the government can do very little if there is no foreign currency, but why don't we have foreign currency? Maybe the answer is in the American Ambassador’s speech three weeks ago. It is a failure of the current administration.

Swaziland a much smaller country than Zimbabwe but with possibly more HIV deaths than Zimbabwe is able to provide first line treatment to its citizens. The treatment of HIV in Swaziland is centralised to the big cities but people have transport cost reimbursed to travel to the city for their treatment. They don’t pay for the drugs. Botswana is another country were things have taken off. Most people from Botswana on completing their studies are quite happy to go back besides the threat of HIV. This is so because they have a system that can look after them.

This paper reported that the price of condoms had risen to unaffordable levels. If I remember right the price was $250 000 for a pack of three. In the same article it was pointed not only the price was an issue but also the availability. The Herald, in its wisdom said NO, the price of condoms was actually $100 000!!!

Enough said.

The right price for condoms is zero cents. In a country where 1 in 4 is HIV positive, and there is a busload of cabinet ministers, common sense suggests that a certain percentage of that Cabinet is infected. Why is it that no one has come out and said they were HIV positive, like Chris Smith in Tony Blair's Labour government or Kaunda's two sons? What these admissions do is to give people confidence to have a test and a sense of realism that HIV does not only affect Joe Public.

Swaziland and Botswana have enjoyed a fair degree of success in the fight of HIV because their governments have admitted that they have problems and accepted help.

I am aware there is paranoia running riot in the Zimbabwean government that we are in danger of being re-colonised hence we should accept minimum outside help. The limiting of NGO's is an example.

Perhaps the point that the Zimbabwe government is in denial is best illustrated by the ruling Zanu PF party's manifesto for the last general election. There was nothing about HIV. I have to say as well that the opposition MDC was no better.

There has been a brain drain of healthcare staff to other countries. The reason for that is not that we want to live in cold countries but purely that we don’t recognise our country anymore, and the government is not setting its priorities right.

Whilst to some extent I would understand the reason for not having a test back in Zimbabwe, I find it inexcusable that Zimbabweans in Western countries still refuse to test themselves of the disease. Many of my countrymen just live in denial.

I had a test back in 1995, having to wait for the results was painful. The day I went to collect the results I ended up in a pub without the result. It took two weeks to finally get the results. I was starting a new relationship so it had to be done. If I was to have children then it was important that I put my fear and anxieties second to the well being of those kids.

Within the last 18 months, whilst in Leeds, I have diagnosed so many women whose husbands have not turned up for a test. The message is very clear guys, this ain’t going away, please do get a test. The biggest problem within African communities with regards to HIV is late presentation to hospital. At the point of presenting to hospital, the person is very ill, too ill to fully recover.

I have seen a lot of my countrymen and women presenting with TB in hospital, then refusing to have an HIV test. In every 10 TB cases (in Africans), nine are HIV related, and that is a fact.

Susan (not her real name) was diagnosed HIV positive last year when she got pregnant with her second child. She had a negative result three years back in Zimbabwe. She is a very educated lady with a top job. She has been going out with Fanuel (not his real name) for the last 2 years. When she got her negative result in Zimbabwe she tells me she swore she would never put herself at risk again.

So what happened? Tears in her eyes, she said she trusted Fanuel. They lived together and she knew Fanuel’s movements and was confident he had never been unfaithful. She ignored that Fanuel had a past.

How does this compare with Tambu’s case. Tambu had a negative test in Leeds a year ago. Now Tambu left school after Grade 7 and doesn't have a very good job. She met Martin within the last six months .She is now HIV positive. What happened? She thought since Martin was well built and not loosing weight he was HIV free.

I fail to understand why people who would be fully aware of the risk of contracting HIV practice safe sex back home, but when they get to Beeston or Harehills, Luton, Slough etc take the risk? Is this denial? Tambu and Susan's cases show that HIV infection happens to everyone of us, irregardless our educational backgrounds or standing in society.

Today is World AIDS Day.

If you have lost anybody to HIV, don’t let their death go to waste, do something to help another person or yourself.

If you are HIV positive, be proud you know your status, you are better off knowing. It's not enough that you know your status. Please help save another life by sharing your experience with someone and encourage someone to test.

If you think you are negative, and have not had a test, then that is not a true negative! HIV does not happen next door alone, people must actively seek to have Aids tests before it’s late.

To the following I have lost to HIV:

John – sorry I was not there for you when you were not well. Urindwindwi.

Knox – Thanks for the high life and the beers when I was at school.

Lovemore - why did you not tell me? I could have helped. Thank you for being so honest and looking after my affairs in Zimbabwe. You could have used the funds to get treatment.

Berts - Thanks very much for my first mortgage, you bent all the rules to make sure I did not lose my flat when I came to the UK.

Tsano - How could you have introduced me to playboy Nite Club?

Ricardo - What can I say.

Sekai - Thanks for the Viceroy bottles you used to send me .You were a really muramu.

To all those living with HIV who came into my life through my work, friends and relations, keep fighting. You are all amazing people with so much courage and much to give.

Martin Takawira is Clinical Nurse Specialist on HIV/AIDS. The views in this article are his and not necessarily shared by my employers. People's names and location have been changed for confidentiality. Contact Martin: takawira@hotmail.co.uk
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