University of Zambia Medical Library

"HIV/AIDS Has Left 550,000 Orphans In Zambia."By Speedwell Mupucji
The Post, September 24, 2001

The alarming spread of the HIV/AIDS has left 550,000 orphans in Zambia with an alarming increase in Lusaka, Lusaka mayor Patrick Kangwa has observed.

Officiating at the Children In Crisis fund-raising walk in Lusaka on Saturday, mayor Kangwa said the alarming number of orphans and vulnerable children need psycho social support. He said more needed to be done both for the millions of children who have been orphaned due to AIDS and to prevent the further spread of the disease.

"Our country in general and Lusaka in particular has an alarming number of orphans and vulnerable children who need psycho social support,'' mayor Kangwa said. "I need not remind you that the increased number of orphans and vulnerable children has been due to the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS which has left over 550, 000 orphans."

Mayor Kangwa said the traumatic experiences of orphaned children who live with the slow and painful death of their parents usually cause a lot of mental health problems. "I note that in most cases the social status of the children changes after the parents death,'' he said. Mayor Kangwa said children under the guardianship of their grand parents, aunts and uncles who were unemployed stopped school and were often abused. He hoped Children In Crisis, through community counselling, would be able to develop strategies and services that promote personal development and well being of orphans and vulnerable children.

He said intervention measures were necessary to reduce the risk factors like lack of food, access to health care, education, clothing and shelter by increasing protective factors supplementing what a child needs to develop into a responsible citizen. Mayor Kangwa, who took time to participate in the almost two hours sponsored walk under the theme "Stop Child Abuse" appealed to business houses and the donor community to help in meeting the needs of vulnerable children in society.

"I am positive that if we put our efforts together we can help thousands of these children to become productive members of society by supplementing development needs,'' said mayor Kangwa. CIC Board chairperson Bridgette Banda said the influx of street children was a direct result of prolonged economic pressures and the breakdown in extended families. Banda said intervention programmes looked into the welfare of orphans and vulnerable children in order to prevent the influx of street children.

She explained that the dream of her organisation is to see children in the country grow up to be responsible members of society. "In the past, our society relied on the traditional roles of extended family to provide services and help shape the development of children that were orphaned and vulnerable,'' Banda said. "However, today there has been a surge in the number of orphans while traditional roles of extended families have been breaking down with urbanisation and prolonged economic pressures.

The result of this has been the influx of street children.'' Banda said about K7.6 million in cash and K25 million with K11.2 million already collected had been raised through fund-raising ventures. And CIC executive director Musama Kangwa said her organisation had launched a Stop Child Abuse campaign to stop all forms of child abuse in the country.

She said cases of child abuse ranging from corporal punishment to child labour in the country were on the increase. Kangwa said they were trying to discourage a situation where children eventually became abusers. She said child abuse, whatever the form, impacted on the child's development hence the need to raise awareness.

Kangwa said her organisation had established a revolving fund to support guardians of orphaned children and that CIC has so far sponsored 20 orphans for education. The stop child abuse campaign is symbolised by a blue ribbon. The sponsored walk was also supported by MMD national Secretary Michael Sata who donated K100,000. Sata, who was driving towards town, found the march along the Great East Road at Northmead, disembarked and marched with the group for a while before he proceeded.

"Kaunda Foundation Opens 4 Schools for Orphans." By Reuben Phiri
The Post, September 17, 2001

The Kenneth Kaunda Foundation has set up four schools for children orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Press Freedom Committee of The Post for the visiting Freedom Forum delegation at Lusaka's Arabian Nights Restaurant on Friday, founder and former Zambian president Dr Kenneth Kaunda said it was the intention of the Foundation to build more schools throughout the country.

"We don't want to encourage orphanages. The children are coming from their grand parents' homes so that we maintain family values," he said. Dr. Kaunda also disclosed that the Foundation would establish regional radio stations which will specifically talk about the issues of HIV/AIDS. "This will enable people in the region to discuss the matter as part and parcel of the efforts to try and break this dirty war of silence," he said.

Dr Kaunda said the Foundation would like to do more for children but lacked adequate financial resources. Some members of the Freedom Forum delegation from the United States pledged to make a follow-up and help in mobilising support for the Foundation.

And Dr Kaunda who had declined to be drawn into discussing politics reiterated his support for Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's land redistribution exercise. Dr Kaunda said Zimbabwe was paying its price because the issue of land should have been resolved 10 years ago.

He said both the Zimbabwean and the British governments had agreed to deal with the land issue 10 years after independence and blamed both parties for the crisis. "Come 10 years, both sides were silent.

The issue comes up 20 years later. Personally I can't understand. But I can say the price to pay is too high after the neglect from both sides," he said. Dr Kaunda said Zimbabwe had destroyed an opportunity to make it in the world.

But he observed that President Mugabe had exhibited his goodwill by not only allowing the former rebel Rhodesian leader Ian Smith to stay in Zimbabwe but also "to talk the rubbish that he talks". "Now you are making rogues called settlers to look like angels," Dr. Kaunda said. "Until our leaders in ZANU-PF explain why this issue was not resolved 10 years ago, I'll still remain wondering."

"K40 Million Set Aside for AIDS Awareness Campaign."
Times of Zambia, August 20, 2001

The Zambia National AIDS Council has set aside K40 million to be used in the HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns on the Copperbelt. Provincial health director Peter Mijere revealed this in Ndola yesterday at a one day Central Board of Health (CBOH) awareness campaign workshop held at the Savoy Hotel.

The money is there and each of the 10 districts will receive K4 million to be used in the awareness campaigns, he said. Mr Mijere said the fight against AIDS should not be left to the Ministry of Health alone but to everyone regardless of ones status. He noted that many African countries including Zambia have declared the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a disaster hence the need to educate citizens about preventive measures and how to live positively.

Opening the workshop, Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Geoffrey Mukala said Zambia was among the top seven countries in Southern Africa with the highest rates of HIV/AIDS cases. The social-economic impact of the HIV/AIDS in Zambia is enormous because the most affected are individuals at the peak of their productive period, he observed. He said Copperbelt Province is among the provinces with the highest HIV prevalence in the country with about 26 per cent of the adult population believed to be HIV positive.

He noted that there was need for a multi-sectoral approach in response to the epidemic in order to effectively control the spread of the disease. He further noted that the prevalence of HIV related illnesses in the country has overburdened the health care system at all levels hence the need for everyone to participate in the campaigns.

The workshop was attended by Copperbelt chiefs, district administrators, mayors, extinctive directors, district directors and representatives from churches and NGOs.

"Reproductive Health in HIV Positive Couples." By Sarphira Nachizya
The Post, August 20, 2001

AS HIV/AIDS continues ravaging the country, more interventions need to be discussed to combat the scourge. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has swept away the human resource the world over with the majority being the reproductive age.

As a result, the number of street kids and orphans continues to rise as many parents and guardians continue dying from the disease. Therefore, reducing the spread of the disease among the sexually active people is an issue that individuals and communities have to address. The widely known effective method is the condom use. One aspect that needs critical attention is the intervention of family planning in HIV positive couples.

Is it healthy for HIV positive couples to have children? Since HIV is sexually transmitted, HIV positive couples stand a high possibility of having HIV positive children. The fact is they too have a right to have children, but what about the risk of having HIV positive children?

Zambia Integrated Health Programme (ZIHP) behaviour change specialist Regina Lungu called for intensification of education in the community of HIV positive couples on the risks and consequences involved in having children, should they decide to have children. She observed that in our society people value children a lot and, therefore, HIV positive couples should be well-informed on the risks involved of them having children.

Some reasons why they want to have children include the need to have their name to live on and for someone to look after their parents in old age. Mrs Lungu added that HIV positive couples should be given adequate information that would help them make informed decisions. A woman can transmit HIV to the child in the womb, during delivery or through breastfeeding. She, however, said the percentage of children born with the HIV virus is about 40, while 60 percent are born HIV negative from HIV positive mothers in Zambia.

We should ask ourselves if we really want to have a child who is going to be sick throughout his or her life or have a child who we shall leave as an orphan, she said. What pressurises people most is the value of children, that is why they risk having them. It is a well-known fact that every pregnancy is a risk. If a woman who is already HIV positive gets pregnant, she easily depletes her health.

Mrs Lungu, therefore, said men should support their wives since women are the ones that feel the pain of pregnancy, child delivery and child care. Nevertheless, HIV positive couples who decide to have children argue that it is their right to do so. There is no denying this fact, but rights come with responsibilities.

It is also a fact that like everyone else, serious consideration should be given to the circumstances in which people are before deciding to have children. These circumstances should be such that the children have their fair chance of leading a happy childhood, growing up and taking their rightful place in society.

Although there are many reasons why HIV positive couples may want to have children, unfortunately circumstances put these children born of HIV positive parents at a great disadvantage. Children are disadvantaged from the start in that if they acquire HIV from their parents at birth, they will eventually develop AIDS and lead a very painful life. This is cruel to the child. If they do not acquire HIV at birth, it is highly probable that their parents will die without seeing them grow.

These children will not have parental care, which is critical in ensuring a normal and happy childhood. Therefore, it is extremely unfair to deprive the child of parents love for any reason. And if you know that you will not be there to provide this love, then spare the child the pain by not having it in the first place.

HIV couples should know that they would always be remembered for the wonderful people they are. Their loved ones will never forget fond memories of the love shared with them. The greatest love they can give to humanity is to avoid creating undue suffering. Moreover, they still remain with a final decision to make as a couple whether to have children or not. One also needs to note if family planning is really necessary in HIV positive couples.

HEALTH TIP:
HIV positive couples should understand the consequences of having children. Talk to a family planning counsellor about your needs.

QUIZ:
Name two problems which a child born of HIV positive parents would face.

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"AIDS Has Affected Blood Donation ." By Reuben Phiri
The Post, August 9, 2001

The prevalence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has had an effect on the donation of blood by members of the public , Zambia National Blood Transfusion Service (ZNBTS), donor services manager Patricia Kongwa has disclosed.

Speaking when a group of 22 pupils from Lusaka's Edwin Mulongoti Primary School toured the Blood Bank at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) yesterday, Kongwa said there were some people who "deferred" themselves from donating blood because of their bad social behaviour. "There are some people we call self deferrals. These are people who feel guilty on their own because they are aware of their careless social life. These people disqualify themselves and this brings the number of potential blood donors lower," she said.

Kongwa said ZNBTS offered post donation counselling where interested blood donors could also be informed about their HIV/AIDS status. She said the blood bank was currently meeting demands from the country's largest referral hospital UTH as well as other hospitals in Lusaka which offered transfusion services. "But what we need is a back-up of screened blood because we are catering for a much larger population. We appeal to the public to come forth and donate blood," Kongwa said. "We are looking for males or females between 17-65 years of age and should weigh above 45kg."

Kongwa also explained that donation or receiving of blood was a right of every human being and that no religions like the Jehovah's Witness should give sanctions to their members. "A person should not be discouraged from donating or receiving blood on the basis of religion. Let them decide on the basis of information they have," she said. Kongwa advised that people should avoid engaging themselves in violent actions that could lead to the spillage of blood in order to minimise demands.

"Mpika Catholics Link Beer, Dagga to Rising HIV/AIDS Cases."
The Post, August 9, 2001

A seminar on behaviour change process (BCP) in Mpika has identified beer drinking, dagger smoking and promiscuity as factors contributing to high rate of HIV/AIDS cases in the area.

A three-day seminar at Ichengelo Catholic Centre in Mpika over the weekend observed that HIV/AIDS cases were on the increase in the district because of excessive beer drinking, dagger smoking and promiscuity among the youths. Discussants warned that unless the youths are sensitised on the dangers of beer drinking and dagger smoking, HIV/AIDS will continue affecting them because most people indulge in sexual activities after taking the stuff.

The seminar was attended by participants from various church denominations in the area and was organised by the Catholic Youth Association (CAYA) of Mpika Diocese. And Mpika diocese CAYA co-ordinator Clement Mumbo has called on churches, civic organisations and traditional rulers to help CAYA with its BCP programmes to make the district AIDS free. Mumbo said the church, civic organisation leaders and traditional rulers need to support CAYA programmes both materially and financially if the life serving mission is to succeed in Mpika.

"UNAIDS Response Cheers Tian."
Times of Zambia, August 7, 2001

Professor Tian Shengxun yesterday welcomed the move by the Joint United Nations AIDS programme (UNAIDS) to test the efficacy of his Immune Booster which he says reverses HIV positive symptoms.

Prof Tian said in Lusaka that the move by UNAIDS was a step in the right direction and an example which other international health bodies should follow. “I am more than ready to have my drug tested anywhere in the world to determine its efficacy. “As far as I am concerned my medicine is one of the breakthroughs in the fight against the deadly AIDS disease,” he claimed.

Prof Tian said he was happy with the response of the Zambian Government and UNAIDS saying such support made him feel more determined to research more on his drug. He said he enjoyed a good relationship with the Government and other co-operating partners in his efforts to find a cure for HIV/AIDS.

Prof Tian however, said it was sad to note that a multitude of people died of the deadly disease when he had the medicine. He hoped UNAIDS would speed up its response to testing his drug so that it could be approved as one of the cures for the disease.

UNAIDS representative Dr Kenneth Ofusu-Bako recently said his organisation would facilitate a scientific test of the Tian Immune Booster to determine its efficacy. Prof Tian caused a stir during the recent Organisation of African Unity (OAU) heads of state summit when he told UN Secretary General Koffi Annan that he had an AIDS cure. The UN chief told him to hand over his investigation paper to UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot.

"Zambia: Poverty and AIDS Force Children Onto Streets."
UN Integrated Regional Information Network, August 5, 2001

Pint-sized Edgar was 10 when he left his mother's shack in eastern Zambia to seek his fortune in Lusaka, the bustling capital of 1.3 million people. The puny but plucky youngster had no inkling about life in the city, but he was not perturbed. Nothing, he thought, could be worse than the miserable life he had led in Lundazi. It was an existence of few pleasures and endless chores. From morning, when he hauled several bucketfuls of water from a communal well half a kilometre away, to midnight, when the neighbourhood tavern at which he tried to sell his mother's hard-boiled eggs closed, the little boy knew no respite. When business was slow, his mother held him personally responsible and whipped him or denied him his supper, or both.

Two years on, Edgar has given up the quest for his fortune. He starts his day in the central business district, where he alternatively begs and runs errands to raise enough money for the imperative dose of "glue" - an intoxicating concoction of petrol and adhesives that the destitute sniff to dull the harsh realities of life on the streets. At midday, he walks over to Fountain of Hope, a non-governmental organisation outside the city centre that rehabilitates street children, for a free meal.

Edgar's life, multiplied many times over, represents the lot of thousands of the children that swarm the streets of Lusaka in a desperate quest for survival. Their number has risen markedly over the past few years, doubling to 75,000 since 1991.

The conventional wisdom is that the increase in their number is a direct consequence of HIV/AIDS. It is generally assumed that most of the children are forced onto the streets by poverty after one or both of their parents died of AIDS-related complications. According to the ministry of health, Zambia had around 520,000 "AIDS orphans" in 1999. That number is expected to rise to 895,000 by 2009 and to 974,000 by 2014. "Perhaps half of all street children are orphaned children, indicating growing pressures on extended families to cope with the rapidly increasing orphan population," the ministry said in a report entitled 'HIV/AIDS in Zambia'.

However, new evidence suggests the HIV/AIDS pandemic is not necessarily the main reason that a growing number of Zambian children are living on the streets. To begin with, around half of the 75,000 street children in Lusaka are not orphans. Moreover, recent studies have revealed the lot of Zambian children with parents is no different from that of orphaned ones.

"There is little difference in economic status between orphan and non-orphan children. Seventy-five percent of orphan children are found in households living below the poverty line and 73 percent of non-orphan children are also living in households below the poverty line," the government's 1999 Situational Analysis of Orphans and Vulnerable Children points out. "These problems (of food shortages, poor health, inadequate education and bedding) actually affect all the children, orphan and non-orphan, and indeed, all the community members," the report added.

Moreover, there is a growing realisation that poverty is not the only factor that forces children to live on the streets. That, at least, has been the experience of Foundation of Hope, which deals with an average 500 street children per day, providing them with food, schooling and shelter.

"A lot of other factors besides poverty, including psychological pressures, force children to leave their homes. Some leave to escape abuse of one sort or another, and others are compelled to go on the streets by peer pressure," Fountain of Hope administrative officer Emmanuel Mukanda told IRIN.

According to Mukanda, children who leave their homes for reasons other than economic pressure tend to be more difficult to rehabilitate than those forced on the streets by poverty. "Those children who ran away from home often require intensive counselling. The others, who are forced onto the streets by poverty, are relatively easy to reform. Once their basic material needs are met, their main problems are over," he said.

The realisation that many children end up on the streets because of psychological pressures prompted Fountain of Hope to extend its counselling services to the parents of runaway children. "Many parents come here to look for their missing children, and we try to counsel them along with the children. Sometimes, we succeed in bridging their differences, and the children return home," said Mukanda.

Observers, including the government and UNICEF, see the misconception that destitution among Zambian children is largely AIDS-related as sometimes diverting communities away from effective interventions. They argue that while the plight of orphan and non-orphan poor children is broadly similar, their specific needs can be different.

"There is ... value in distinguishing between orphans and other vulnerable children when considering psychological support, protection of rights, interventions targeted to their specific status as orphans and epidemiological surveys," notes the government's Situational Analysis of Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

Moreover, Zambia, a country of 10 million people, has 19 non-governmental organisations whose core missions are to alleviate the plight of AIDS orphans. Few such organisations exist to address the concerns of destitute non-orphan children. However, there are signs that society is beginning to appreciate the fact that the problem of destitute children goes beyond AIDS orphans. "Although communities start by looking at the needs of orphans, they soon reformulate their criteria to include other vulnerable children, namely those who are extremely poor," UNICEF notes in a report entitled, 'Children Orphaned by AIDS'.

"Men Should Play Leading Role in Fight Against HIV/AIDS." By Jack Zimba
The Post, August 3, 2001

Ever since the first HIV/AIDS case was reported in Zambia in 1984, the country has been engaged in an uphill battle against the deadly scourge. Many lives have been lost.

Today, HIV/AIDS has continued to wreck havoc in many households with more and more people getting infected each day. Current estimates put the figure of infected persons in the country around 900,000 with about 200 persons getting infected each day. By the year 2014, it is estimated that 2.3 million people will have died from the epidemic and more than one million children orphaned in Zambia.

This devastating impact of HIV/AIDS has been felt at all levels of society and in all spheres of the country's set-up: social, economic, educational or political. The fight against the HIV epidemic has been intensified over the years with the hope of reducing the alarming figures of infected persons and deaths.

Over the past few years, men have been identified as key players in the spread of the virus because of the power and influence they posses. Although men can use their dominant role, influence and power to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, they have in most instances abused this power and influence.

It is in recognition of the key role of men in the spread of HIV that UNAIDS adopted "Men make a difference" as the theme for the World AIDS Day this year. But what can men do in order to make a difference?

A workshop recently held at the Taj Pamodzi hotel on Monday identified vrious factors which allegedly contributed to the careless attitude most of the menfolk had toward sex. The workshop whose theme was ''Gender and sexuality in young men's lives'' was organised by the Zambia Intergrated Health Programme(ZIHP). and drew participants from various Non Governmental Organisations as well as the media institutions.

Making his presentation, Family Health Trust Programme officer Collins Mwansa noted that men needed to change their attitude towards sex and sexuality. Mr Mwansa who was presenting a report based on a seminar held in Ndola earlier on, said most men treat their wives as sex objects. He said women should not be taught how to please men, but should be taught how to enjoy sex as much as the men did.

''Men need to know the desires of their partners and prepare them for sex so that they too can enjoy the act,'' stated Mr Mwansa. He said that because men propose love to women and later on pay lobola (dowry), they tend to have superior powers and even greater influence over their partners. Men also make decisions in the community and in the home, so the likelihood is that it is a man who will normally decide when to have sex and how it should be done.

The demands society places on a man and the perception it has of males in general was also identified as one of the key factors which influenced the sexual behaviour of most men. In most societies, men are pressured to prove their masculinity through sex which has insome cases even led to most boys experimenting with sex at a very early age and men having more than one sexual partner.

The Zambia Sexual Behaviour Survey(SBS) released in 1998 says that by the age of 15, 37 percent of boys have already had sex. And International HIV/AIDS Alliance associate consultant Alan Greig said that society expects men to be sexually active, assertive and in control.

Mr Greig said society should attempt to change the way boys are socialised to become men. He said that there is need to confront male dominance in matters relating to sexuality to help them develop the right attitude towards sex. ''Men are victims of their way of upbringing and socialisation, they cannot make their own decisions,'' Mr Greig said.

According to the SBS report, in most societies it is "normal" for a man to have more than one partner. The survey discovered that about one third of women believed that a man could not be satisfied by one partner. Traditional and cultural norms and practices have also played a significant role in determining the sexual behaviour of men.

Dr Francis Manda, head of the Urology department at the University Teaching Hospital(UTH) said that African male children are taught to be sexually dominant from an early age. Dr Manda called for community based sex education for young men and girls. He said that in the past, issues to do with sex were handled by the community and not parents. Most parents cannot discuss sex with their children because they think it is taboo. And men usually find it easy to have a greater say on sex because tradition and religion teach women to be obedient and submissive to their partners.

This submissiveness and obedience has deprived women of the power to negotiate safe sex. Studies show that most women are uncomfortable asking for sex from their partners, while on the other hand, they feel they have no right to say no to the sexual demands of their partners. It was also noted that traditional practices that teach women how to please or satisfy men in bed have largely disadvantaged women.

The desire to please their partners has also encouraged dangerous sexual practices like dry sex, a form of abuse against women. The other factor which encourages male dominance is the lack of economic empowerment for women . In most cases, men have more economical power than women and they tend to use their money to make sexual demands.

Closing the seminar, ZIHP health policy adviser Cosmas Musumali said a sexual relationship must be balanced. He said that there is no pleasure in a relationship where one is economically dependent on the other. Mr Musumali called for a more aggressive and pragmatic approach to the fight against the epidemic. "Young men are the window of hope, but only if they practice safe sex. We have been objective and analytical for too long, lets get emotional, lets get annoyed and fight HIV/AIDS."

"HIV/AIDS Prevalence Levels Are Just Too High, Says Dr. Shelly." By Bivan Saluseki
The Post, July 26, 2001

Zambia's HIV/AIDS prevalence levels are just too high, USAID AIDS specialist Dr. Karen Shelly (in picture) has said. Dr. Shelly said the prevalence which stands at 19.7 per cent is extremely high. "That is an extremely high rate," she said. Dr. Shelly said USAID had started to notice a reduction of HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in young ones because of incessant media campaigns.

She said youths were currently faced with a lot of difficult choices in the wake of the ravaging HIV/AIDS. Dr. Shelly said AIDS activists had a lot of work to do with those in the 30 to 40 age group in the fight against the disease.

And Society for Family Health (SFH) senior marketing manager Chilufya Mwaba supported the Helping Each other And Responsibly Together (HEART) project which focuses its fight against AIDS on youths in both urban and rural areas. Mwaba said a vast majority of youths, 64 per cent of girls and 70 per cent boys, do not believe they were at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS virus.

"Most common reason for not using a condom, is because they trust their partner, they fear the other partner will object to condom use, or they don't know where to buy one," she said. Mwaba said by the age of 19, most females would have had a baby, a clear indication of unprotected sex.

And the impact of the HEART campaign findings from the youth surveys in Zambia covering 1999 to 2000 released yesterday indicate that among both men and women, the perceived efficacy to use condoms was positively and significantly correlated with viewership.

"While impressive, the finding indicate that in designing the next phase of the campaign, the design team should consider to convey the idea that abstinence is a social norm among young people," read the report in part. According to the statistics released at the HEART meeting, an estimated 100 Zambians are dying everyday as a result of AIDS.

"Youth Media Campaign Helps Reduce HIV/AIDS Prevalence Level."
UN Integrated Regional Information Network July 28, 2001

USAID AIDS specialist Dr Karen Shelly, said that media campaigns had helped reduced the prevalence level of HIV/AIDS among Zambian youth the 'Post' on Wednesday. Speaking at a meeting reporting on the impact of the youth mass media campaign in Zambia, Dr Shelly said that research conducted by USAID and UNAIDS had noticed a reduction of the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the youth. Dr Shelly told IRIN on Wednesday that these media campaigns reached about 50 percent of the youth in the country and were one of the contributing factors of the reduced prevalence rate.

The Helping Each Other Responsibly Together (HEART) campaign, is a national mass media campaign, which was founded towards the end of 1999. It's creation was prompted by research conducted by the Society for Family Health (SFH) and the Zambian Integrated Health Programme (ZIHP), which indicated that a large percentage of Zambian youths were having unprotected sex and very few were abstaining from sexual intercourse. The youth interviewed during the research expressed a need for information that was current and more accessible.

SFH senior marketing manager, Chilufya Mwaba, told IRIN that the campaign had focused on radio, print and television and had received a favourable response from the youth as it was planned and implemented by young people.

The controversial advertising campaign had received some negative reaction from the public, particularly over a radio advertisement which encouraged young females to resist when being pressurised to stop using condoms and adopt the slogan, "No Condom, No Sex!" The advertisement was subsequently dropped from the radio airwaves. Mwaba said that despite the adverse reaction, the HEART campaign enabled the youth to speak freely about HIV/AIDS and raised awareness of the disease in the country.

The impact of the HEART campaign findings from the youth surveys in Zambia covering 1999 to 2000 released on Wednesday, indicate that among both men and women, the perceived efficacy to use condoms was positively and significantly correlated with viewership.

The campaign targets both urban and rural youth and uses dramas and mobile video units in rural areas to get the message across. Mwaba said there was more work to be done as a vast majority of youths do not believe they are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. According to the statistics released at the HEART meeting, an estimated 100 Zambians are dying everyday as a result of HIV/AIDS.

"HIV/AIDS Devastates Zambia Police Service." By Sheikh Chifuwe
The Post, July 18, 2001

The impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Zambia Police Service has been devastating, observed a police officer yesterday.

In a vote of thanks at the close of the three day HIV/AIDS workshop for Zambia Police organised by a South African pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, Inspector Mufaya said the HIV/AIDS pandemic had affected the operations of the police.

"Zambia Police is one of the organisations hit hard by HIV/AIDS, the impact is very immense in that it has affected the operations of the police," he said. Inspector Mufaya said it was vital that officers were availed the necessary information on how to prevent HIV/AIDS and mitigate its impact.

He said a lot of officers who were sent out of station on operations were exposed or vulnerable to the pandemic and appealed to the police command to ensure more educational workshops were organised for the officers. And closing the workshop attended by 31 police officers, Commissioner of Police Emmanuel Lukonde (in picture) ,said although AIDS had already resulted in severe deterioration in the economic and social conditions of many sub-Saharan countries there was a lot that could be done to halt and mitigate its impact.

Lukonde said the police command was working on an expanded multi-sectoral response which would extend the reach of current prevention efforts to those who were vulnerable in the Police Service. "This response will address the biological, behavioural, and social factors that determine the profile of the epidemic in each police division," he said.

Lukonde said the most effective ways of preventing HIV/AIDS included individual behaviour and social change, making condoms available and affordable, providing diagnosis and treatment of STDs, ensuring a safe blood transfusion and supporting interventions to reduce mother to child transmission.

GlaxoSmithKline Sales manager Greig Baines said his organisation was keen to support programmes fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. Baines cautioned the workshop participants to remain alert because the pandemic was prevalent at all stages of human life.

"WHO Shows Interest in Tian Immune Booster."
The Times of Zambia, July 9, 2001

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown interest in sponsoring the Tian Immune Booster acclaimed to reverse HIV/AIDS symptoms to negative in most patients that have had the drug administered to them.

Dr Tian Shexung said in an interview in Lusaka that he had a meeting with Dr Ossy M J Kaselo a regional advisor on traditional medicine at the WHO regional office for Africa and he indicated sponsoring the drug to test its efficacy. Dr Tian said Traditional Healers Association of Zambia (THAZ) president Rodwell Vongo was also in the meeting which was aimed at promoting traditional medicine in the country.

"We discussed more about the drug with the WHO representative. I showed him some of the results of the patients I have administered and he was very happy about the results hence considering to support the project," he noted.

Dr Tian said the WHO representative advised him to discuss with his boss in China to see what support WHO could provide to them in any form. He said WHO was very keen and willing to sponsor patients elsewhere in the world to prove how effective the Tian drug was.

"I showed him my laboratory results which he said were very encouraging and that there was now hope in finding the cure to the deadly HIV/AIDS," he said.

A recent document on the laboratory results made available to the Times indicated a 90 per cent result in the reduction of viral load in patients suffering from the disease. The document indicated complete absence of the viral load, (the amount of HIV circulating in blood) in more than five patients that had undergone treatment of the immune booster.

Dr Tian appealed to the African heads of state in the country to allow him explain the efficacy of his drug at the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) summit when the agenda to discuss the HIV/AIDS pandemic comes up. He called on all stakeholders worldwide to supplement his efforts as this would be the only way of seeking the HIV/AIDS cure.

"HIV Test Kits to Be Given On Priority Basis."
Synergy Africa, July 7, 2001

The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zambia combined with the inconsistent and sometimes limited availability of HIV test kits has prompted the Churches Medical Association of Zambia (CMAZ) to recommend to its member institutions an HIV prioritisation scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to offer a framework for deciding when HIV test kits should be utilised, especially, when test kits may be in short supply.

"This framework assumes the highest goal of HIV testing to be the reduction of HIV transmission. All member institutions are therefore encouraged either to adopt these guidelines or to use them as a starting point for drawing up their own prioritisation scheme," an AIDS brief obtained from CMAZ notes. According to the brief, CMAZ also advised member institutions performing HIV testing to utilise a prioritisation scheme on their test kits. The guidelines include the availability of trained pre- and post-test counselling.

HIV/AIDS has continued to be a health crisis of epidemic proportions in Zambia. Due to the nature and characteristics of the natural course of HIV infection, the ability of health institutions and programmes to conduct HIV testing is a key element in Zambia's efforts to control the spread of the disease. Unfortunately, the availability of adequate supplies of HIV test kits has proven to be inconsistent.

The brief indicates that in order to maximise the utility of HIV testing, the CMAZ should distribute HIV test kits preferentially to hospitals and not to health centres when test kits are in short supply.

"Zambia's HIV Statistics are Starting to Improve." By Chama Nsabiki
The Post, July 5, 2001

Latest statistics on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia indicate that slowly things are starting to move in the right direction, out-going first development secretary at the Norwegian Embassy in Lusaka Kikkan Haugen has said. Speaking at his farewell party organised by the Family Health Trust yesterday, Haugen said prevalence rates among young girls were down and overall levels of the pandemic were also levelling off.

He said while we cannot be too optimistic, these were good signals and there was hope for the future of the country. Haugen said this was not on account of donors but because of dedicated work by Zambians. He said sometimes in Europe there is a perception that Africans just sit back and wait for a solution to be given them but that was very wrong and in the five years he has worked in Zambia, he has learnt that Zambians do not simply sit back but are actually working.

He reiterated that donors cannot solve problems but that people in recipient countries need to come up with solutions themselves and then be helped with those solutions. Haugen said things have been extremely difficult in the country but that in the midst of these difficulties, communities are doing something positive.

He said Norway has been involved in meaningful development through various sectors such as basic education, democracy and elections, culture and HIV/AIDS and that meaningful progress was being made. Family Health Trust (FHT) executive director Elizabeth Mataka commended the Norwegians through Haugen for their continued support to the cause of HIV/AIDS, orphans and home-based care.

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Last updated September 24, 2001

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