Stigma Spreads the HIV Virus in NIGERIA

NIGERIA: /RIGHTS/HEALTH/ /9/12/02 IPS

LAGOS – The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in NIGERIA is a result of stigma and discrimination against people who have tested positive, say experts.

Discrimination is forcing the epidemic under the carpet, where it does no one any good, Pat Matemola, co-ordinator of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, is quoted in an Inter Press Service (IPS) report.

But if we are able to control stigma, discrimination and rejection, more people will have the courage to come out and test, and it will be easy to control the disease a little better, Matemola urges.

Matemola says out of an estimated 3.5 million Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS, only about 100,000 know their status.

Hairat Gwadabe, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on HIV/AIDS, says stigmatisation and discrimination are a violation of NIGERIA’s Constitution, according to IPS. It is also a violation of the UN resolution 199 on human rights, she adds. /IPS/an

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AIDS Biggest Killer of Female SOUTH AFRICANS

SOUTH AFRICA: /HEALTH/RIGHTS/ /9/12/02 IPS

JOHANNESBURG - AIDS is now the biggest killer of young girls and women under 40 years in SOUTH AFRICA.

Health Minister Tshabalala-Msimang has publicly said HIV/AIDS may be made a notifiable disease, according to a report from Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency.

Statistics South Africa and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have revealed the grim extent of the epidemic in SOUTH AFRICA in a mortality study.

SOUTH AFRICA’s President Thabo Mbeki had rejected a previous study by the MRC.

Now, the government has planned a massive budgetary jump. It plans to spend R3.3-billion (330 million U.S. dollars) on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in the next three years.

All sectors and genders of the population have showed heightened mortality from HIV/AIDS. The results reveal a racial pattern to the disease in SOUTH AFRICA, the IPS report says.

Black women are 15 times more likely to die of AIDS than white women. And, 14 times more likely to die of AIDS than Indian women.

This is largely because income patterns are still severely racially skewed in SOUTH AFRICA. /IPS/an

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Deadly Equation of Spousal Abuse and AIDS in SWAZILAND

SWAZILAND: / RIGHTS/HEALTH/ /9/12/02 IPS

MBABANE – Sexual abuse contributes significantly to the spread of HIV. In SWAZILAND, it is rooted in a lack of women's rights.

Martha Simelane, a businesswoman and her family’s breadwinner told Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency that women are expected to comply with men’s desires.

The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), which counsels victims of rape and others abuse, says the lack of legal and social equality increases women’s risk of contracting HIV.

They have observed that men accused in criminal cases of rape and incest continue to defend themselves by saying they are following “God's way”, which they claim is to do with women as they like.

AIDS is rooted in SWAZILAND’s polygamous tradition, SWAGAA says.

Incest and sexual abuse are key contributors to the spread of AIDS in Swaziland, asserts Alan Brody, national representative for the UN children’s agency, UNICEF.

Women and Law’s SWAZILAND branch is hoping to reduce the spread by AIDS by legally securing the human rights of women, says the IPS report. /IPS/an

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CHINA Admits AIDS is a Problem

CHINA: /HEALTH/RIGHTS/ /9/12/02 IPS

BEIJING – CHINA looks set to finally deal with the problem of HIV/AIDS.

Until now the Asian giant has firmly denied an HIV/AIDS epidemic was sweeping the country. The issue of HIV/AIDS was taboo.

However, a series of authoritative studies have shown the authorities the socio-economic impacts of the disease, says an Inter Press Service (IPS) report. Recently there has been a spate of publicity and high-profile education campaigns on HIV/AIDS.

CHINA marked World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, with the announcement that one million students were being sent to the countryside to warn peasants of the HIV/AIDS threat.

Beijing also began airing a series of TV documentaries on what the disease is all about, how it spreads and how to prevent it.

Beijing also announced that it would lift tough restrictions on the advertising of condoms next year, says IPS. Promotion of sex-related products has been banned in CHINA since 1989. /IPS/an

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