Zambian AIDS experts on abstinence and Bush's visit

[Guest guest]

Some perspectives from Zambian AIDS experts on abstinence and Bush's visit:

Treatment Advocacy Literacy Campaign (TALC)

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, 28 June 2007

Abstinence focus damaging Zambian HIV response

The focus on abstinence of PEPFAR funding is damaging the Zambian HIV response, according to local activists.

While activists recognise the positive aspects of US Government funding through the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), they say the funding regime needs to be reformed to ensure it does not continue to set back the Zambian HIV response. This should include allowing Zambia to prioritise and direct funding.

TALC activist Kasonkomona is alive today because of PEPFAR support. He receives his supply of life-prolonging ARV drugs through the PEPFAR-funded CIDRZ program. This is what he has to say about PEPFAR and US Government funding in Zambia:

"The drugs keeping me alive are provided through PEPFAR, and that is good. My genuine feeling is they are doing the right thing when it comes to treatment, but there are some issues that we need to look at.

"When the US Government came in the first thing they did was fund the treatment program and said we must buy the treatment from the US pharmaceutical companies, which sell drugs that are around 10 times more expensive than those from Indian and Brazilian companies.

"While things have since changed, that US monopoly led to less Zambians receiving treatment. So while the US Government is trying to do the right thing, there is also selfishness there.

"Then we need to look at treatment to discordant couples (where one partner is HIV positive and the other is HIV negative) and when they say we shouldn't talk about condoms with PEPFAR money.

"What about when we have a HIV positive person in a committed relationship who is receiving ARV treatment. If they do not know about using condoms and do not have access to them then they will continue to have unprotected sex and risk re-infecting themselves, or infecting their partner, with a new strain of HIV.

"There is also the reality of women in relationships where they do not have the power to say 'no' to sex with their husbands, despite knowing that HIV is present in the relationship and that the risk of re-infection is real.

"Programs that preach abstinence are not relevant to such women, and in fact do more to disempower them, and leave them more vulnerable to increased risk of AIDS."

"Being re-infected with HIV makes you resistant to treatment, ultimately undoing much of the usefulness of the US Government supplying the treatment in the first place. It seems PEPFAR cares about treating HIV, but not about avoiding resistant strains of HIV.

"I'm not saying that abstinence is bad, but let us balance this campaign. Let those who choose abstinence have it, but let us still help those who have sex and teach them to take responsibility and use protection.

"The impact is also evident on the youth when we are made to say the youth should practice abstinence. I was asking a youth worker just this week, 'How do you relate to youth who have tested HIV positive?'

"When you talk about HIV infection, the youth are the most at risk and so many are obviously sexually active already. So what use is an abstinence message to them? It pushes HIV positive away from treatment, care and support.

"What is needed from the US Government is funding choices that are left in the hands of Zambians. They have got to give Zambia a platform and say, "We have this amount of money, what are your priority areas?' and then let us as Zambians be the one's to decide."

PRESS STATEMENT BY HEALTH TRIANGLE TRUST

ON THE OCCASION OF THE VISIT OF US FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH

(KABWE, ZAMBIA) 28 June 2007 Winstone Zulu, Founder of Health Triangle Trust, a registered Zambian Trust dedicated to fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases made the following statement: Health Triangle Trust would like to welcome United Sates First Lady, Bush, to Zambia. Health Triangle, a budding national non-governmental organization with offices in Kabwe, one of the poorest towns in Zambia, acknowledges the important role that the government and people of the USA have played in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The US's contribution to the scaling up of care and support for people living with HIV and AIDS is very impressive indeed. Many people who would have been dead or bedridden are now alive and well enough to get back to their work. The US contribution towards the now over 130 people on ART is very significant.

Health Triangle, once again wishes to say thank you to the government and people of the USA for this very vital support.

On the other hand, Health Triangle would like to bring it to the attention of the US government that its policy on HIV prevention is not helping much in preventing new infections. It is even possible that the policy that makes it clear that US funds should only be used mainly on abstinence and fidelity HIV prevention programs is spreading HIV.

While it goes without saying that abstinence is the best way of avoiding HIV infection, it does not make sense to ignore and deny resources to those that are sexually active who are in fact the ones most at risk of catching the virus. According to the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework 2006 - 2010 only 34% of young people can correctly identify ways of preventing sexual transmission of HIV and reject major misconceptions about HIV transmission. These are the people that the US policy is denying the freedom to choose ways of preventing HIV transmission.

These HIV prevention programs that are made in the USA cannot work here because they do not take into consideration the social, cultural and economic contexts that people live in. To simply promote fidelity without taking into consideration the power play that exist between women and men in this country is not only ineffective but also puts the women at risk of contracting HIV from their spouses. The poor economic situation in this country caused by among other things unfair global trade, many years of servicing unserviceable debt, and that affects women disproportionately, makes it difficult for them to choose the best way of protecting themselves from the virus. Now even the few choices that they had, have been reduced by the US policy on HIV prevention.

Health Triangle believes that the good work that the US is doing in providing treatment and care will come to nothing as long as new infections are not prevented. We are therefore, demanding that the US reconsider its policy on HIV prevention and other reproductive rights issues in order to stop new infections. For once the US must learn that its unilateral way of thinking and doing things often does more harm than good.

=========================================== BrydenGlobal AIDS Alliance, Communications Director1413 K Street NW, 4th floorWashington, DC 20005202-789-0432 ext 211mobile: 202-549-3664fax: 202-789-0715dbryden@...