Journalist in the Service of AIDS Awareness

SOUTH AFRICA: RIGHTS/HEALTH/ /13/07/02 Sabanews

JOHANNESBURG -- Lucky Mazibuko is AIDS-positive. His popular columns in the Sowetan newspaper have made him an icon in SOUTH AFRICA like his hero, Nelson Mandela.

He also acts as the former president’s counselor on AIDS matters, says Inter Press Service (IPS) in a report.

He heads the HIV/AIDS programme at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He has helped SOUTH AFRICA’s elder statesman prepare his speeches and other efforts to turnaround the spread of the pandemic.

"I talk Aids, I sleep Aids, I drink Aids. I have a fighting relationship with the virus,” Mazibuko is quoted in a report by IPS. He says with AIDS “you have to fight bitterly to stay alive”.

Hundreds of people have responded to his columns in SOUTH AFRICA’s largest newspaper. Remarkably many identify themselves, saying they want to learn how to live “positively” with AIDS or they want information on how to care for a loved one. /Sabanews/an

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TOGO’S FAMOUS “MARKET WOMEN” HELP FIGHT AGAINST AIDS

TOGO: RIGHTS/HEALTH/ /13/07/02 Sabanews

LOME -- Market women in TOGO are helping to break the silence around HIV/AIDS. Many keep condoms among their wares for sale, says Inter Press Service (IPS) in a report.

The disease is ravaging the West African country. The market women raise awareness about the risk of unprotected sex and help fight the stigma attached to being HIV-positive.

''Many African families are affected, but many are afraid and keep silent,'' says Cecile Molinier, a UN worker in Togo. ''We must break the silence and begin to talk about AIDS.''

”Women need to talk, since they constitute the backbone of the home and are closest to the children,'' Kayi de Meideros, who sells medicines at the Adawlato Market in Lome, the capital of TOGO, told IPS.

AIDS has orphaned some 95,000 children in TOGO. The population of TOGO is 4.5 million. /Sabanews/an

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Asia Urged to Take a Good Hard Look at Taboos

ASIA: RIGHTS/HEALTH/ /13/0702 Sabanews

BANGKOK – Asians needs to talk about sex and HIV/AIDS at home, according to a report from Inter Press Service (IPS).

There are no discussions at home, where ''parents feel uncomfortable about sex talk''. Untrained teachers in schools are also not able to engage the young.

In Thailand, the curriculum requires that condom use should be demonstrated in schools. However, the discussions are detached and vague because the teachers don’t know how to handle the subject.

In India, only the youth in the metropolitan cities are beginning to feel freer to discuss these issues amongst themselves. They still feel embarrassed and hesitant because the environment is constantly policing them and judging them on these matters.

Both parents and teachers need to be trained to ensure there is a frank flow of information about sex and HIV/AIDS to children, says the IPS report. /Sabanews/an

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Women with AIDS Face Discrimination in Chile

CHILE: RIGHTS/HEALTH/ /13/07/02 Sabanews

SANTIAGO – Forty five-year-old Veronika worked three days a week as a domestic in a rich home in CHILE’s capital until her employer found out she was an HIV-carrier and dismissed her.

She did not get severance pay because she did not have a work contract, she told Inter Press Service (IPS).

The labour rights of people living with AIDS in CHILE are violated. Their children are discriminated against in school, and they suffer discrimination in access to health care.

CHILE is now seeing the “feminisation of AIDS”. The virus is spreading faster among women. Women carriers like Veronika are generally more vulnerable economically, says IPS.

Though most people think the virus infects only sex workers, most infected women in CHILE are homemakers.

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