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Respect and Protect: a personal challenge on World Aids Day
PROTECT: Early HIV detection can lead to longer life,
and HIV/Aids campaigners have used World Aids Day to encourage HIV testing
By
Martin Takawira
Posted to the web: 01/12/2008 17:23:44
TODAY
is World AIDS day. We remember all infected and affected by HIV /AIDS.
This year’s commemorations are held under the theme: Respect and
Protect.
RESPECT
It is very sad that whilst statistics clearly point out that 1 in 4 Zimbabweans are infected with HIV, there is at times very little respect for those with the virus. How many times have you heard whispers and rumours that so and so has HIV? If this was done in a respectful manner, then well and fine. But in most cases, this is said to mock, as if to say “he or she deserves it!”
The sad thing about this is that when the individual making that statement is challenged on whether they have been tested for HIV, the answer in most cases is “no, but I know I’m fine“.
How does one know
if they are “fine”? One wonders! If you have been trusted
with one’s HIV diagnosis, then it’s not for you to go and
broadcast. These actions lead to few people disclosing and more seriously
leads to more infections. We need to be more sympathetic about other
people’s plights, and understand that HIV is not an exclusive
disease – we all are at risk.
Respect for HIV positive people also includes learning a bit more about
the disease, understanding how it is transmitted and its treatment.
I am not asking you to go into the library and start reading. All this
information is readily available from the person infected.
I am aware of people ending relationships because their partner is positive. Whilst this is one’s prerogative, I also know that if the same person starts a new relationship within our community, then there is a 1 in 4 chance that their new partner could also be positive. Is it not true to say the devil you know is better than the one you don’t?
People with HIV now live longer, and have a more or less normal life.
Recently, we had a case in which the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe misused donor funds for the fight against HIV. The use of money designated for HIV causes shows an absolute lack of respect for human life, particularly those of HIV sufferers.
In preparing for an article for last year’s World Aids Day, I sent 10 questions to all the three main parties. I wanted to know what they would do to people with HIV if they were to be elected. Only the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC bothered to reply. Several e-mails sent to the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC got no reply .The Ministry of Health website was still under development. An email sent to the minster was ignored. It was, of course, ambitious of me to expect Zanu PF to explain themselves. These people are not accountable to anyone.
The issue of people presenting late for HIV tests still remains a big challenge, nationally. People need to be encouraged and supported to have an HIV test. Discussions are taking place to ensure that people accessing healthcare services opt out of HIV testing, as opposed to the current option of opting in. I personally agree with this as long as the individual is informed that HIV will be part of series of tests to be done.
Ante natal testing (testing pregnant women) has been a great success. The aim of ante natal test is to prevent mother-to-baby transmission of HIV. My take on this is that whilst it has been a success, it ignores the fundamental fact that pregnancy is the work of two people. Whilst testing the pregnant women is good, that does not complete the story. The male partner needs to be tested as well if the woman’s result is to be 100% effective.
We are now seeing HIV-infected kids born of mothers who had a negative test earlier in the pregnancy. My message to all pregnant women or those planning to be, you need to get your partner to test as well. The reason is simple: you could be infected later in pregnancy. The health service should educate or support midwives to identify women at risk of later infection due to multiple partners or partners who have not been tested. Men should, out of Respect, also agree to be tested jointly with their wives.
PROTECT
This calls for people infected to protect others by not putting them at risk. Whilst it is very difficult to disclose, (reason stated above) it is now a crime to knowingly infect someone.
For me, the crime is not failing to disclose but infecting another person. It is very difficult to tell a date you met last night, and one you fancy, that you have HIV. The fear is that he or she will run a mile at the news. Condoms are extremely effective in preventing transmission. The problem happens if you then have a “condom accident”, when it tears during intercourse.
It is extremely difficult to address the issue of HIV testing whilst still courting, perhaps the same difficulty with which you mention to someone you fancy that you have kids! I am not saying you tell the person you are courting that you have HIV. The way to do it is to find one’s view about having an HIV test and if they claim to be negative, ask for proof or suggest that you be both tested. A day out at a sexually-transmitted infection clinic can be fun!
If it’s proving more difficult to disclose, there is support from specialised staff at most DTI clinics. The infected person needs to be in control of the process, deciding when their partner should be informed.
New Zimbabwe.com reported two weeks ago of a Zimbabwean in Canada who infected 4 people. HIV criminalisation has never been something I agree with. I strongly believe the best person to protect you against HIV is yourself, not the law. One should be empowered to negotiate safer sex. If your thoughts are that if he or she infects me, then I will report to police, then really you need to look at current case law on how difficult it can be to prove the source of infection. And not only that; you might have to prove that the virus is from the person you are claiming to have infected you.
In the UK, only 16 prosecutions have got as far as trial. Many more have been investigated but have been dropped. Twelve people have had a conviction, most of them convicted on their own plea. One individual’s trial has been adjourned. The other three cases have been dropped from the roll on a judge’s direction (all because of doubts about scientific evidence). It is also important to mention that the maximum tariff in these cases has only been five years. This sums up my point very well: why put yourself at risk when the maximum sentence one will get for doing untold harm to your life is only five years?
To those living with HIV, I say hang in there. If you were to save someone by encouraging them to test, would that not be a positive thing? I have met many HIV sufferers in my professional life, and I consider it a privilege because they are brave people learning to live when society around them smells death.
Let us make it our personal commitment, to say one new infection is one too many. We all have lost friends and relations to this virus. Let’s Respect and Protect ourselves. We owe that duty to all we come into contact with as well.
Martin Takawira
is HIV service manager or clinical lead for West Sussex PCT. The views
expressed in this article are his own, and are not necessary shared
by his employers. Contact Martin: takawiram@hotmail.co.uk
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