Leaders Don’t Get AIDS?

THE Namibian Nation is faced with a daunting task of containing and/or controlling the deadly HIV-AIDS pandemic.

A lot of money is being pumped into efforts to contain the disease either by educating the nation or by purchasing the necessary medication. Much of these resources were supposed to be channelled to development programmes like building schools, hospitals or roads, if we did not have this deadly disease.However, despite the fact that so much is spent on educating the nation about the dangers of HIV-AIDS, many of us are not getting the message from those who are trying their utmost best to inform us.The Namibian nation is sick, people are dying like flies every day as a result of HIV, but we are still not getting it into our heads.In recent years we as a nation have experienced and seen a lot of ordinary people coming out in public to reveal their HIV status, and I salute those brave young Namibians, it’s not an easy thing to do, believe me.And I know it’s easy to talk when you don’t have it.Having said that, it appears to me that this disease (AIDS) only infects ordinary men and women, what about our leaders, politicians, parliamentarians, head of institutions, CEOs, MDs, Police commissioners – are they all immune from HIV, are they not affected, are they not brave enough to reveal their status? They are our inspiration, we all look up to them.If they are also vulnerable as we all are, it’s high time that somebody out there does the right thing and comes out in public.After all, they are the ones who bring people together and have them listen.Another disturbing scenario is when a person dies of HIV-related diseases, you find that it’s announced that a person ‘died after a short illness’.Can somebody please tell me what is meant by this and what message are we sending across to the nation? That our people are not dying of AIDS? I am not saying that we must reveal the cause of death, but please don’t fool the nation, don’t tell us “after a short illness”.Please Namibian people, let’s do the right thing, and save this nation before we all perish like fools.It’s not a taboo to die of AIDS, because nobody can tell me in Namibia that he or she has never lost a friend, neighbour, relative or colleague in this way.Therefore, let us talk about it.Denilson, Via e-mailMuch of these resources were supposed to be channelled to development programmes like building schools, hospitals or roads, if we did not have this deadly disease.However, despite the fact that so much is spent on educating the nation about the dangers of HIV-AIDS, many of us are not getting the message from those who are trying their utmost best to inform us.The Namibian nation is sick, people are dying like flies every day as a result of HIV, but we are still not getting it into our heads.In recent years we as a nation have experienced and seen a lot of ordinary people coming out in public to reveal their HIV status, and I salute those brave young Namibians, it’s not an easy thing to do, believe me.And I know it’s easy to talk when you don’t have it.Having said that, it appears to me that this disease (AIDS) only infects ordinary men and women, what about our leaders, politicians, parliamentarians, head of institutions, CEOs, MDs, Police commissioners – are they all immune from HIV, are they not affected, are they not brave enough to reveal their status? They are our inspiration, we all look up to them.If they are also vulnerable as we all are, it’s high time that somebody out there does the right thing and comes out in public.After all, they are the ones who bring people together and have them listen.Another disturbing scenario is when a person dies of HIV-related diseases, you find that it’s announced that a person ‘died after a short illness’.Can somebody please tell me what is meant by this and what message are we sending across to the nation? That our people are not dying of AIDS? I am not saying that we must reveal the cause of death, but please don’t fool the nation, don’t tell us “after a short illness”.Please Namibian people, let’s do the right thing, and save this nation before we all perish like fools.It’s not a taboo to die of AIDS, because nobody can tell me in Namibia that he or she has never lost a friend, neighbour, relative or colleague in this way.Therefore, let us talk about it.Denilson, Via e-mail