AIDS group opens headquarters in city

HEALTH Minister Richard Kamwi believes the time has come to acknowledge HIV infection as a chronic disease, which would see patients streaming in to health centres for treatment.

“They can only be reached when they are accepted, when all are accepted as human beings,” he said at the official opening of the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (Arasa) office in Windhoek on Wednesday. Stigma and discrimination remained a problem that needed to be addressed on a wider front, he said.Delivering the keynote address at the launch of the regional alliance of 14 organisations providing a rights-based approach to HIV-AIDS, Dr Kamwi said more people were beginning to seek testing and treatment.”We are beginning to see positive results in our clinics,” he said.Treating the number of people coming for antiretroviral treatment in Katutura on a daily basis was becoming a challenge for the Health Ministry.”Our clinics are becoming crowded and I want to see more and more.”The Minister said the Namibian Government’s demonstrated commitment to human rights, in its national response to HIV-AIDS, was one of the main reasons Arasa was based in Windhoek.Noting that Namibia’s good practices on HIV and human rights could be shared with the region, Dr Kamwi paid tribute to Arasa for already playing an important role in the Southern African Development Community.”As a united front, we will surely be able to defeat this disease,” the minister said.”Your success is the success of the Ministry of Health and indeed the success of this Government,” he added.Sketching the background to Arasa, director Michaela Clayton said in 2002 a couple of the people working in the field of HIV and human rights discussed the fact that every time there was an expert meeting on the topic, the same old faces from southern Africa attended.With Mark Heywood of the AIDS Law Project, Clayton, who was head of the AIDS Law Unit at the Legal Assistance Centre at the time, co-hosted a meeting in Windhoek with around 80 participants from 11 countries.She said they identified a need for an alliance of organisations working on HIV and human rights.”Out of this meeting Arasa was born with the primary objective of promoting a human-rights-based response to HIV in the region,” she explained.The regional organisation was initially hosted by the AIDS Law Unit with Collette Campher as co-ordinator from March 2003.Clayton became fulltime director in April last year and, as a result of its expansion, Arasa moved from the Legal Assistance Centre and was established as an independent trust earlier this year.In addition to conducting workshops in most SDAC countries, Arasa has already contributed to policy formulation and legislation in some countries.It has also assisted the African Union in developing a framework for integrating the rights of people living with HIV-AIDS across the continent.”I think it is good to give credit where credit is due,” Dr Kamwi said in conclusion.Stigma and discrimination remained a problem that needed to be addressed on a wider front, he said.Delivering the keynote address at the launch of the regional alliance of 14 organisations providing a rights-based approach to HIV-AIDS, Dr Kamwi said more people were beginning to seek testing and treatment.”We are beginning to see positive results in our clinics,” he said.Treating the number of people coming for antiretroviral treatment in Katutura on a daily basis was becoming a challenge for the Health Ministry.”Our clinics are becoming crowded and I want to see more and more.”The Minister said the Namibian Government’s demonstrated commitment to human rights, in its national response to HIV-AIDS, was one of the main reasons Arasa was based in Windhoek.Noting that Namibia’s good practices on HIV and human rights could be shared with the region, Dr Kamwi paid tribute to Arasa for already playing an important role in the Southern African Development Community.”As a united front, we will surely be able to defeat this disease,” the minister said.”Your success is the success of the Ministry of Health and indeed the success of this Government,” he added.Sketching the background to Arasa, director Michaela Clayton said in 2002 a couple of the people working in the field of HIV and human rights discussed the fact that every time there was an expert meeting on the topic, the same old faces from southern Africa attended.With Mark Heywood of the AIDS Law Project, Clayton, who was head of the AIDS Law Unit at the Legal Assistance Centre at the time, co-hosted a meeting in Windhoek with around 80 participants from 11 countries.She said they identified a need for an alliance of organisations working on HIV and human rights.”Out of this meeting Arasa was born with the primary objective of promoting a human-rights-based response to HIV in the region,” she explained.The regional organisation was initially hosted by the AIDS Law Unit with Collette Campher as co-ordinator from March 2003.Clayton became fulltime director in April last year and, as a result of its expansion, Arasa moved from the Legal Assistance Centre and was established as an independent trust earlier this year.In addition to conducting workshops in most SDAC countries, Arasa has already contributed to policy formulation and legislation in some countries.It has also assisted the African Union in developing a framework for integrating the rights of people living with HIV-AIDS across the continent.”I think it is good to give credit where credit is due,” Dr Kamwi said in conclusion.