Mixed messages during AIDS Champions visit

PROMINENT former African leaders who formed the Champions for an HIV-Free Generation coalition a few years ago this week concluded a fact-finding mission to Namibia.

Their goal was to strengthen regional co-operation on the pandemic but also to learn from the Namibian approach, which is claimed to be one of the most effective treatment strategies in the region. The visit included numerous meetings with Government officials, civil society and prominent Namibian personalities, such as Former President Sam Nujoma. The visiting party was led by Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, and included Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, Dr Speciosa Wandira, former Vice President of Uganda, and Joyce Mhaville, chairperson of the Steering Committee of the African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV-AIDS. Mogae won the prestigious 2008 Mo Ibrahim Award for Achievement in African Leadership for his work with the coalition. The coalition’s mandate is to accelerate the response to the epidemic. The Champions were formed at the 17th International AIDS Conference held in Mexico City.Its founding committee consists of four former African presidents and a Nobel Laureate from the continent. At a meeting with Cabinet Ministers at Parliament, Mogae stressed that southern African countries needed to make HIV an absolute priority.’We cannot say AIDS is a priority and then not have it reflected in budgetary allocation,’ he said. He said it was also important to show Western countries that Africa ‘owns the initiative’ in the fight against HIV, especially because the financial crisis was sapping potential donor money. Chissano reiterated that ‘it is the responsibility of the government to build a healthy nation’ and that Africa ‘cannot rely on outside financial help’ anymore.The panel heard presentations from Cabinet Ministers on how Namibia was fighting the pandemic. Deputy Finance Minister Tjikero Tweya said Namibia currently spends 12 per cent of the national budget on HIV-AIDS.The optimal percentage of budgets that African countries should spend on HIV has been set at above 15 per cent. Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Marlene Mungunda said about 103 000 AIDS orphans were benefiting from government grants, out of a total of 156 000.And Minister of Defence Major General Charles Namoloh said the armed forces have constructed health centres at their barracks to fight the pandemic.All Champions members said Namibia’s HIV-AIDS treatment strategy has been exemplary and that other African countries should follow suit. In a meeting with members of civil society and the private sector however, a different story was heard and the Champions were told that Namibia still faced various challenges in its fight against HIV-AIDS.Amon Ngavetene, of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), said the HIV-AIDS prevalence rate in prisons was worrisome as the supply of condoms to inmates was still controversial and not consistent.He also said forced sterilisation of HIV-positive women was taking place without their consent, and that the LAC has heard of around 20 such cases. Ngavetene informed the Champions of discrimination against HIV-positive pupils in the awarding of scholarships. It was suggested by Champions panellist Mhaville that civil society should ‘use the good relationship with the media to fight these issues out’. Other concerns heard were that civil society was suffering from a lack of funds due to the financial crisis and that support from the private sector was not forthcoming. To this end, Mogae and Charissa said Botswana and Mozambique have private-sector organisations independent of government dealing with the issue of HIV-AIDS. A representative of the private sector said Government only called on the sector for funds in a ‘crisis’ and that there was no sustained dialogue between the two parties. At a meeting with the media, Mogae related some of the main findings of the visit. He said ‘a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to the epidemic must be led from the senior levels of government’. To this end, ‘greater involvement from cabinet members and parliamentarians is desired’. He said southern African countries should strive towards halving the number of new infections by 2015.Contributing to this should be a policy on male circumcision, as this has been shown to reduce the chances of transmission in men by about 65 per cent, Mogae said.He also said Namibia needed to clamp down on discrimination against the infected and affected, as practices such as denying HIV-positive people home loans remain. Mogae said there needed to be more local investment, as the global financial crisis was impacting on funding from Western donors.