HIV/AIDS In Zambia (April

The University Of Zambia
School of Medicine

University of Zambia Medical Library

HIV/AIDS Africa Related Articles: April - May 2002

"NGO Links Shortage of Teachers to HIV/AIDS." The Post, May 14, 2002 The shortage of school teachers in Zambia has occurred because more teachers are dying of AIDS than can be trained to replace them, a Global AIDS Programme report has indicated. The report also states that of the countries ravaged by the pandemic in Africa, life expectancy has declined by 10 years and infant death rates have doubled. In countries with the highest prevalence, such as Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, the full impact of the epidemic has not been felt because those infected recently have not developed symptoms," the report read in part. "Equally important is the effect of HIV deaths on families, social systems, and national growth and development." The report said young adults who contribute substantially to countries' gross domestic product are most commonly affected. In families, loss of one or both parents to HIV can lead to loss of income, cessation of children's education, increased child labour, and disruption of family and social support systems. The report said the HIV epidemic has challenged public health agencies to develop new and often controversial prevention programmes that contradict established practices and social norms.
"Minister Urges Schools to Stop HIV/AIDS Through Sport ." By Tamara Luhanga The Post, May 13, 2002 Community development deputy minister Ackimson Banda has urged all schools to get involved in stopping AIDS through sport. Banda was speaking when he officially opened the EDUSPORT "Kicking out AIDS" tournament at Chilenje ground yesterday. "The impact of sport on community development has gone unrecognised and we appreciate the initiative taken by EDUSPORT," said Banda. A total of eight teams from Kabwata constituency took part in the tournament. And Kabwata Constituency member of parliament Given Lubinda said the EDUSPORT concept should be adopted by all schools across the country. "AIDS requires dedication from govt and all members of society and this should be adopted by all schools," said Lubinda. EDUSPORT president Oscar Mwaanga said their concept this year was to use sport as an avenue to teach AIDS. The teams participating in the tournament were Green Parrots, Bamako FC, Young City of Lusaka, Lukwesa, Young Buffaloes, Chilenje Dragon, Happy Hearts and Brave Warriors.
"HIV/AIDS Has Continued to Rob Lusaka of Its People - Levy." By Bivan Saluseki
The Post, May 10, 2002
THE HIV/AIDS pandemic has continued to rob Zambia of its people, President Levy Mwanawasa has said. Speaking yesterday at the UN special session of the General Assembly on Children in New York, President Mwanawasa said the pandemic was not only robbing the hopeful smiles of Zambia's children, but the nurturing presence of their parents.
"Current estimates are that 44 per cent of households in Zambia accommodate orphans, while 13 per cent of children below 18 years are orphans," he said. "The ghastly shadows of poverty and HIV/AIDS are darkened even further for Africa' s children when the continent is mired in civil conflicts and wars resulting in an ocean of refugees, the greater number of whom are children and women," he said. President Mwanawasa said Zambia was a plateau of peace and consequently a home to the many refugees fleeing from war. "We appeal to the UN and other humanitarian organisations, the world over, to help us share this burden. Help us look after refugees, children and their parents," he said.
President Mwanawasa said the rising hopes of, the new millennium, the renaissance of the African civilisation, had rekindled hope for countries and children. "The African Union, and the NEPAD initiative is our statement that Africa's children must be given a future. Humanity has a common fate. Stand by us," he said. President Mwanawasa said Zambia was committed to bequeath to children the opportunity to grow up with confidence and dignity, with a promise of a future of prosperity and abundance. He said as the leaders assembled to deliberate on the future of the world's children in New York, they should remember the irony that made the meeting particularly challenging.
"We now know too well after the dreadful events of September 11, 2001, that tomorrow can only be guaranteed for the world's children if we fight emerging threats to peace and personal security for all today. One terrorist act in one country is a terrorist crime against all," he said. "People of New York and the United States of America, may your wounds heal fast and may ground zero remain, for all humanity, a symbol, not of our vulnerability but our unshakeable foundation of mother earth. Collectively, and on behalf of all the world's children, we must pledge: we shall make the world safe from all forms of terrorism, physical, social, cultural, environmental and economic," he said.
President Mwanawasa said turbulence, was a characteristic of today's world and yet the commitment leaders made to our children in 1990 when Zambia joined the rest of the UN member states' at the world summit for children remain a moral call for action. "It is in our best interest that we come back to New York and take stock of the extent to which the declaration for children and plan of action inspired us to take concrete steps in the interest of our children," he said. President Mwanawasa said maternal and child health, basic education, food security and nutrition, water and sanitation and family welfare programmes of action had been developed.
He said the Zambian government had managed among other things to introduce free education for all children in grades 1 to 7, promoting girl child education including a re -entry programme for young mothers and bursary schemes had been introduced for orphans and vulnerable children throughout the country. "Through wide approaches to child health, we have sought creative ways to guarantee the welfare of children. Vitamin A supplementation in food has been successfully implemented in addition to broad-based eradication against immunizable diseases," said President Mwanawasa.
"The record of positive achievements in addressing the problem of service provision to vulnerable children has however been tempered by the grim realities of the overburdening shackles of poverty that Zambia, like many other African countries, face.
"Church Accused of Hypocrisy Over Condoms."
The Post, April 28, 2002
Professor Nkandu Luo yesterday accused the Church of hypocrisy over the use of condoms. Speaking on a Radio Phoenix's Speak out programme, Prof. Luo said the Church should not totally condemn the use of condoms as there are people even within the Church who cannot abstain.
"You cannot tell someone who has tasted sex to abstain," she said. She said people in the Church were also contracting sexually transmitted diseases and were dying from AIDS which confirmed they were having unprotected sex.
She said people in the Church should not pretend that they are more holy but should be realistic about the situation. "The issue about the condom is, we are not packaging the message properly to include telling people the consequences. We can't tell everybody to abstain, it's not possible, maybe after a century," Prof. Luo said. "The Church in its teachings should emphasise that the condom was not a solution to AIDS." Prof. Luo said HIV/AIDS was a war. " And if we do nothing, it will be knocking on our heads instead of our doors," she said.
Prof. Luo said HIV/AIDS was declared a national disaster in 1999 during the International Conference on AIDS in Southern Africa (ICASA) held in Lusaka but there had been no follow-up. She charged that Zambians were very good at making pronouncements but made no attempts to follow them up or implement them. Prof. Luo said there was need to revisit HIV/AIDS programmes and also called for a national policy on HIV/AIDS where everybody would participate. "It's not just good to sit in offices with titles, people are dying," Prof. Luo said.
"We all need to go on a crusade and lobby for the World AIDS Day to be declared a no sex day." Prof. Luo said AIDS was a very difficult disease and as such no one can claim to have a cure. She explained that HIV was very difficult to cure as it attacked a human's immune system and usually mixed with one's genetic materials. And commenting on voluntary HIV testing by both political and Church leaders, Prof. Luo said it was wrong for one to take it for the sake of setting an example for others.
And speaking at a fund-raising luncheon held at Paradise Reformed Church in Lusaka's Lilanda township yesterday, Lusaka Province deputy minister Patrick Ngoma said HIV/AIDS has robbed the nation of highly qualified people who were supposed to steer it to economical heights. Ngoma said the scourge had robbed the Church of able bodied people who could have assisted in spreading the Gospel.
"The HIV/AIDS pandemic is real, it has no boundaries," Ngoma said. "It has left a chain of orphans too many to be looked after either by guardians or government." Ngoma said HIV/AIDS had brought up a new demand for a more closer relationship between the Church and the government. He said the two institutions shared one common commodity which was people. "This disease is robbing these institutions of this precious commodity at an alarming rate. HIV/AIDS is our common enemy," Ngoma said.
"Therefore, the Church and the government need to have one common stand against the pandemic." Ngoma said the war against AIDS needed not to be lost in order to preserve people for the Church and the government. He emphasised abstinence since there was no cure for HIV/AIDS. Lilanda RCZ is carrying out fund-raising ventures aimed at soliciting funds for an orphanage to accommodate orphans whose parents died of AIDS.

"Church Urged to be More Active in the Fight Against AIDS." By Larry Moonze
ZANA, April 17, 2002
The Church in Zambia has been called upon to get more involved in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A Church leader said in Lusaka today that the church was best placed to fight AIDS because everyone in the church was either infected or affected by the scourge.
Reverend Harrison Chinsembu Overseer of Arise International Ministries made this call today when his church officially launched an HIV/AIDS and social concern project. Reverend Chinsembu said that there was an urgent need for the church to get more involved in the fight against the deadly disease as it was threatening the lives of most of its members.
He said that as Pastor he spent most of his time at church and at the graveyard officiating at burials of church members or their relatives. He said this unfortunate development needed to be corrected. The reverend said that the social concern project, which was launched today, would make a difference in the fight against AIDS mostly because of its composition. He said under the project, there would be a Widows and Vulnerable Children s section which would be charged with looking into the welfare of those affected by AIDS.
He added that a medical section would also be set up under the project and this would be tasked to look into the welfare of those suffering from the disease. He said that funds for the project would initially come from members of the Church and those in the committee while funds from other stakeholders would be welcome.

"Bishop Mambo Backs KK's Condoms Call." By Larry Moonze
The Post, April 11, 2002
I concur with Dr. Kaunda's plea on condoms, said Church of God regional superintendent Bishop John Mambo yesterday. Bishop Mambo said with AIDS, the Church had to contend with moral weakness of man and if for some reason, unless one wanted to take his own life, he had to use a condom.
"I know condoms are not 100 per cent safe, they can break, but it's time we take a leaf from Uganda, where the Anglican church helped in preaching behaviour change and the country is winning the battle," Bishop Mambo said. "Abstain, its biblical and is the key. But you know that HIV/AIDS has not spared anyone, myself, family, civil society among others."
Bishop Mambo said the Church drew its inspiration from the Bible which states that one had to abstain till marriage. "Obviously we can not give a condom a seal of approval. Much as we can't let people die, no one will accept me preaching before the Church the safe way to use a condom," he said.
Bishop Mambo said in appreciating the HIV/AIDS problem, the Evangelical Fellowships of Zambia, Zambia Episcopal Conference and the Christian Council of Zambia had formed an inter-faith unity with the objective of spearheading the struggle towards the pandemic. He said although the Church had broken the silence, it should not blame the Pentecostals for escalating HIV/AIDS. "I feel in the past, if we had not condemned and disparaged as sinners the first HIV positive and AIDS patients, things could have been different today," he said.
Bishop Mambo said AIDS was real and therefore the Church should stand out in support of voluntary counselling and testing if people were to lead normal lives. "Testing to know one's HIV status and taking a stand is good. Not even the Vatican can say no to this," he said. Bishop Mambo said Dr. Kaunda's stand is challenging, especially that Zambia was currently seeing directionless NGOs mushrooming in the guise of HIV/AIDS advocates.
He said with high poverty levels, AIDS was becoming enemy number one in the country. "Dr. Kaunda's efforts in fighting HIV/AIDS should be embraced by the Church if a catastrophe is to be avoided," Bishop Mambo said. "Dr. Kaunda has continued to show statesmanship and bravery since the death of his son Masuzyo."

"Anti-AIDS Coordinators No Longer Prophets of Doom."
The Post, April 8, 2002
As HIV/AIDS continues to threaten people's lives, in Zambia there is a glimmer of hope as many non-governmental organisations targeting the infected and affected are formed, writes BENEDICT TEMBO. From being perceived as messengers of doom, Anti-AIDS coordinators under the Family Health Trust (FHT), a Norad-funded Zambian non-governmental organisation, have become prophets of hope for millions of Zambians as the pandemic takes its toll.
Rosemary Zulu, a project manager with FHT in charge of the home-based care programme says when they started the visitation exercise of communities a few years ago, and they met hostilities and resistance.
People in compounds refused to accept the existence of the HIV/AIDS until their children, parents, friends, or relatives started dying in numbers. "We have contributed in the reduction of HIV/AIDS prevalence, we are the key players as NGOs," Mrs Zulu said.
Mrs Zulu's day at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) - the country's biggest referral hospital - starts by looking at files and correspondence from the registry of patients. It is at the hospital where she finds a horde of people from communities and attends to them, meeting them at their point of need.
She also peeps in the pigeon hole looking for notes from medical staff for her to counsel people who have either been found to be HIV positive or have come for tests. Later, she visits her clients who are either at UTH or site clinics receiving treatment or recuperating from their respective homes. She encourages them not to give up on life.
The home-based care Mrs Zulu coordinates has about 700 clients, 75 per cent of whom are adults above the age of 20. FHT chose UTH as the catchment area because that is where most patients go for treatment and diagnosis. And commenting on her philanthropic work, Mrs. Zulu said "it is not a hopeless situation."
"In fact, a lot of them who suspect they have HIV and those diagnosed to have, hope they can recover from one infection or another, even if there's no drug for AIDS. Previously, there used to be that fear, but with counselling, it has brought hope."
FHT plays a three-tier role in trying to influence the course of the epidemic that is threatening the existence of human beings on earth, particularly in sub-Sahara countries like Zambia. FHT offers support, prevention and care. FHT gives material support in terms of mealie meal, soya beans, high protein supplements and cooking oil to patients recovering from the pandemic.
FHT conducts sensitisation workshops in communities, teach the family members how to protect themselves from HIV infection while caring for the sick and promoting the use of the condom. FHT gives simple drugs to relieve the symptoms. FHT buys drugs for patients.
To effectively carry out their work, FHT have demarcated the capital city into six zones, each with a clinic manned by a qualified nurse who is helped by volunteers who have been trained by the Trust. The Trust has about 300 volunteers. In fact, the recruitment of community volunteers has been described as a huge success, which Mrs. Zulu says works for the continuation of the programme.
The coming in droves of community-based volunteers to help has curbed the stigma of the HIV/AIDS which made the work of coordinators extremely difficult as people in compounds had made their homes "no-go areas" for people preaching about the pandemic.
"We have seen a lot of people come forward to seek HIV testing. Also, they simply come to know their status before they either get married or when going abroad for studies," explained Mrs. Zulu about the breakthrough of the information and campaign programme in compounds and shanty townships.
During weekends, FHT anti-AIDS coordinators spend their pass-time in communities with the mobile van. FHT Anti-AIDS Project Manager Mrs. Prisca Chitomfwa said the mobile van has made impact because of its features which include a public speaker system, video and television set.
The van initially goes round a particular community with the announcer advertising a movie to be shown. When people gather, mainly entertainment-starved residents, the movie is shown depicting how HIV-AIDS can be contracted and how it can be prevented. This is later accompanied by talk-shows and members of the audience are invited to participate through the question and answer sessions.
"It is a very good human resource mobiliser because of the public speaker system, it is a crowd puller," Mrs. Chitomfwa said the mobile van has proved handy because of its ability to attract people and reach areas which were difficult to access. It has turned out to be an effective coercive tool because people get motivated to learn more about HIV and is also a vital tool for training.
Also falling under the FHT programme is the Children In Distress (CINDI) project, whose goal is to improve the quality of life for orphans. When CINDI started a few years ago, it had very few children under its custody but the advent of the pandemic has seen the programme grow to almost unmanageable levels.
CINDI project manager, John Munsanje, said his organisation has now developed a bias towards children whose parents died from HIV/AIDS. The programme is now taking care of about 24,000 children countrywide. The programme is concentrated mostly in Eastern, Lusaka and Southern Provinces. "There is no coping, the rate at which children are being left parent-less is outstripping our resources," Mr. Munsanje said.
CINDI caters for children's school needs including food, and clothing. The organisation has limited their charity to people not older than 20. The HIV/AIDS picture in Zambia is not gloomy after all. With the soaring number of non governmental organisations, disease awareness, HIV tests, and care for orphans are issues that are being addressed.

"ZBCA Calls on Companies to Wear Red Ribbons." By Webster Malido
The Post, April 14, 2002
Companies should make it a rule for all workers to wear red ribbons, the Zambia Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (ZBCA) has recommended.
According to recommendations arising from ZBCA's March 26, 2002 AIDS summit, companies have further been urged to make it compulsory that they are engaged in HIV/AIDS activities. Also recommended is the need for companies to introduce house journals as a way of breaking the silence on HIV/AIDS.
To increase knowledge on HIV/AIDS at workplaces, companies are encouraged to conduct workshops and seminars regularly. Companies have also been urged to introduce medical schemes at the workplace for employees and their families. Other recommendations include the need for companies to adopt some clinics in compounds to help them run better as well as the need to participate actively in HIV/AIDS fund-raising ventures. Also recommended is the need for companies to develop creative programmes such as drama towards the fight against the killer disease. Companies have been advised to create partnerships with other companies abroad to broker some contributions to HIV/AIDS activities in Zambia. Big companies have been urged to establish their own voluntary counselling test (VCT) centres.
Company executives have also been urged to lead by example in order to influence behavioural change. "Chief executives must stop shunning HIV/AIDS activities but take a much more positive attitude and participate fully in all HIV/AIDS activities," read part of the recommendations. The government has been urged to consider tax rebates for companies financing HIV/AIDS activities. The rest of the recommendations are that ZBCA itself should lobby government and donors to channel more resources to HIV/AIDS activities as well as to distribute its policy documents to all members.

"HIV/AIDS Makes Children in Africa Hopeless, says Ghanaian Artiste." By Reuben Phiri
The Post, April 12, 2002
Children in Africa are hopeless as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Ghanaian born artiste Ama Ofusu-Barko observed yesterday. The United States based Ama said HIV/AIDS was much more prevalent in Africa leaving orphans and vulnerable children in its wake. She said this when she donated a K2 million cheque to Petauke AIDS Orphans Support Group which was raised from a musical concert she held in Lusaka last week.
Ama said music was supported by the community and it was important to be able to give back to the community at some point. "I would like to thank the Zambian people for the support and hospitality shown to me. I thought I should donate to charity especially to a group in a rural area that helps out children whose parents died of AIDS," Ama said.
Community development and social services minister Judith Kapijimpanga who received the donation said the government was doing everything possible to address the plight of orphans. She said government efforts were being supplemented by a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and churches which had set up orphanages around the country. But Kapijimpanga said the government was trying to encourage the upbringing of orphans within the families rather than in institutional settings like orphanages.
"We would like to encourage families to raise children left behind by relatives so that they could grow up within the family unit," Kapijimpanga said. She said the government had also stepped up the campaign to sensitise people that AIDS was real and that they should stick to one partner.
Father Jim Brady who received the donation on behalf of the Petauke Aids Orphans Support Group said he was cheered by the gesture to donate to a rural based organisation. Brady observed that most sponsors of charity targeted urban centres leaving the rural areas forgotten.

"Screen for All Sexually Transmitted Diseases." By Pelekelo Liswaniso
The Post), April 12, 2002
A Zambian researcher in natural remedies to fight against HIV/AIDS has appealed to newly established Voluntary Counseling and Treatment Centers (VCTs) to include screening and treatment of other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) like Gonorrhea, Chancroid, Herpes, and Syphilis in their programs because these diseases are on a sharp rise.
Dr Godfrey Shilalukey of the New Millennium Shilalukey Homeopathy Research Center said in Lusaka that a lot of attention has been directed at HIV/AIDS but other STDs which needs equally critical attention were also on the increase.
"The medical personnel at all major hospitals like the University Teaching Hospital, community health centers, herbalists, the Kara Counseling and the newly introduced Voluntary Counseling and Treatment centers like New Start and others should break the silence on these STDs," he said.
He said his clinic at ESCO complex in Lusaka and the Kabwe Homeopathy Research Center have recorded a huge increase in the number of cases of people suffering from STDs. Despite the widespread availability of condoms in the country, STDs were on the increase and have become a serious social and health problem like HIV/AIDS.
Just a matter of time
"Anyone with a chronic STD is just a matter of time for these carriers to fall into the category of HIV/AIDS because they are slowly being eaten by the disease," he said.
Dr Shilalukey who administers the Shilalukey Vital Blood Tonic (SVBT) - a combination of natural remedies- to his patients- said women were at greater risk because they can carry the STDs for a very long time before symptoms begin to show. STDs are spread primarily through intimate sexual activity. Many bacteria, viruses and other kinds of germs cause STDs. Sexually Transmitted Diseases were once commonly called Venereal Diseases (VDs).
He explained that Gonorrhea in men for example, causes inflammation, pain, burning and a profuse discharge of thick, light-yellow pus from the urethra. The male urethra, being much longer than that of the female, and having many glands and passages connected with it, is subject to a more severe early reaction, usually after a few days of infection.
Many women who do become infected get the disease from their husbands who have contracted it before marriage, or who have become infected through illicit intercourse after marriage. Women's sexual organs, being internal, cannot be so readily treated as those of men. Also a married woman is not likely to begin treatment early because of not suspecting the disease in her husband and does not apprehend trouble until pain compels her to seek medical aid. By that time the disease would have been fully established.
Same vigor
Dr Shilalukey observed that STDs were a major health problems and should be fought with the same vigor as AIDS, a deadly viral disease, which is also sexually transmitted.
He pointed out that because of their nature of transmission through intimate sexual relationships, they have been a problem for a long time. But he quickly noted that most germs that cause STDs die quickly outside the human body. For this reason, STDs are rarely, if ever, transmitted through contaminated objects, such as eating utensils, towels and toilet seats, or through casual contact such as coughing, sneezing or swimming in the same pool.
AIDS and a few other STDs may be transmitted through direct contact with infected blood. And all of the common STDs can be transmitted from an infected pregnant women to her baby. Transmission may occur as the fetus develops within the uterus during childbirth.
Breaking the silence
Dr. Shilalukey said breaking the silence on STDs should spread into homes. "Customs and traditions should be broken. Parents should openly talk about the dangers of STDs with their children. Do not leave the responsibility to uncles and aunties," he said.
He also observed that an individual's chance of becoming infected with an STD depends on a variety of factors. In general, people who begin sexual activity at an early age, have many sex partners, or engage in sexual intercourse with high-risk individuals such as prostitutes, are at high risk of infection. The frequency and duration of intercourse with an infected partner also influence a person's risk of infection with an STD.
He warned that individuals with genital ulcers may be more vulnerable than others to STD infections including HIV/AIDS. He further warned that it has been noticed that some STD causing organisms have become resistant to some of the drugs used for treatment and complicating efforts to control the spread of STDs. For example, some of the bacterium that causes gonorrhea have become resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics that are commonly used to treat the infection.
The most effective strategies to stay free from an STD are to abstain from intimate (skin- to- skin) sexual contact altogether, or to limit such contact to one uninfected partner, who in turn, has no other sexual partners. People can significantly reduce the risk of infection by using condoms or other protective measures during sex and by avoiding sex with prostitutes and other high risk individuals.
Dr. Shilalukey stressed that controlling the spread of bacterial STDs requires early treatment of infected individuals and their sexual partners. Many hospitals and community health centers have special clinics for the treatment of STDs. Treatment is usually accompanied by education to encourage changes in the patient's behaviour.
"People with sexually transmitted diseases, particularly viral STDs, often are unaware of their infection and may infect many others. Education is therefore the best tool for controlling the spread of viral STDs like HIV/AIDS," he said.
"Individuals who suspect they may have an STD should see a physician without delay. They should also stop all sexual activity until told by a physician that they are not at risk of infecting others," he added. When asked about progress on his SVBT cocktail, a multiple illnesses therapy, Dr Shilalukey said the HIV reversal symptoms on his patients were tremendous. "The patients are getting better and better and leading normal productive lives than before."
He said he was finalizing arrangements for clinical trials with the virology laboratory at UTH to confirm cases from his homeopathy research center. He thanked the Ministry of Health, Central Board of Health and other organizations for the support in the project.

"Use Condoms To Avoid Catastrophe, Dr. Kaunda Advises." By Reuben Phiri
The Post, April 11, 2002
We must use condoms to avoid a catastrophe in Zambia, Dr. Kaunda has advised. Launching the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) crusade against HIV/AIDS in Lusaka yesterday, Zambia's first president Dr Kenneth Kaunda wondered why some Churches were against the use of condoms when the society was not pure.
"We are still impure. The church has not succeeded in making us pure yet. I would advise all our Church leaders to reconsider the stand on the use of condoms," he said. Dr Kaunda, who is also founder and chairman of the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, said he was a believer in Christ himself "but as human beings, we are not pure not to use condoms". "Use them," Dr Kaunda said.
"We must use condoms to avoid a catastrophe in Zambia." Dr Kaunda said the pandemic threatens millions of lives with nations, communities and families losing leaders of today and tomorrow to HIV/AIDS. He said the global situation was much worse than ever expected and AIDS is sparing no country in the world.
"In countries that were thought to be relatively free such as Russia, the infection rate doubled in 2001 and increased by almost 20 per cent in the Caribbean," he said. Dr Kaunda said in Zambia, the situation could be described by one word, "terrible".
Enumerating the rate of infection in Zambia province by province, he said Lusaka leads the country and noted that the statistics were vital because they revealed areas which attracted migrants owing to their economic and social activities and are the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infections.
Dr Kaunda called on all Zambians to be proactive , dynamic and resourceful in response to the pandemic. "No amount of foreign aid can substitute for an energised populace. No one will do for us what we must do for ourselves. God helps people who help themselves," Dr Kaunda said.
"The international community can only complement our efforts and not to direct or lead HIV/AIDS remedial efforts in Zambia." Dr Kaunda said the battle against HIV/AIDS was entering its third decade and spreading both in width and in depth in spite of the awareness campaigns, education and condom distribution. While access to anti-retrovirals was universally guaranteed in the Western countries, Dr Kaunda observed that this was hardly the case with sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Kaunda said latest reports indicated that the cost of anti-retrovirals were beyond the reach of HIV infected people in Africa with only between 25,000 to 30,000 having access to the drugs. He said Africa needed US$10 billion a year to satisfy the HIV/AIDS infected people and yet wealthy countries have only pledged US$ 2 billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS.
Citing teachers as an example, Dr Kaunda - a former school teacher - said the rate at which the country was losing professionals was alarming and expressed fear that Zambia might return to the pre-colonial era when there were only 100 graduates at independence. He urged ZCTU to encourage its affiliates to establish work place policies and programmes in conjunction with the various management to fight HIV/AIDS.
Dr Kaunda advised that each trade union must never discriminate against those found HIV positive and each of them should guarantee employee confidentiality among other pre-requisites. "If information leaks from the top management or hospital or clinic or indeed trade union that so and so is HIV positive, or has developed AIDS, the whole programme will backfire in your faces," he warned. Dr Kaunda suggested that each union should undertake care, support and treatment of its employees infected with HIV/AIDS so that they continue to contribute to the business for as long as possible through a range of care and support services in conjunction with other health care providers. He said where possible, the trade union should implement anti-retroviral treatment programme for its workers to suppress the development of HIV/AIDS virus. "I have no doubt that with the determination such as you have shown, we will succeed to reverse the HIV/AIDS infections and eventually eliminate it altogether," said Dr Kaunda.
ZCTU secretary-general Sylvester Tembo praised Dr Kaunda for the role he was playing in the fight against the deadly disease. Tembo said the nation stands threatened by the ravages of HIV /AIDS as the able bodied are perishing at an alarming rate.
"Your contribution in fighting the threats of HIV/AIDS and your efforts, at your age, directed at this noble cause makes you stand out unique in our society," he said. Tembo called for concerted efforts in intensifying the battle to the grass roots or perish. "Trade unions are well placed to help in the campaign against this scourge," he said. American Ambassador to Zambia David Dunn said he was cheered with the dedication of the labour movement in Zambia in the struggle against AIDS.
He said to effectively combat the scourge, all elements in the society including religious groups, the military, business people and the labour movement must be involved. Meanwhile, Dr Kaunda had problems extricating himself from a mob of admirers who all wanted to pose for photographs with him after the official photo session. He was forced to dash for his car sending people into laughter and cheering, after his pleas to be allowed to leave, fell on deaf ears.
"Church Accused of Hypocrisy Over Condoms." The Post, April 28, 2002 Professor Nkandu Luo yesterday accused the Church of hypocrisy over the use of condoms. Speaking on a Radio Phoenix's Speak out programme, Prof. Luo said the Church should not totally condemn the use of condoms as there are people even within the Church who cannot abstain. "You cannot tell someone who has tasted sex to abstain," she said. She said people in the Church were also contracting sexually transmitted diseases and were dying from AIDS which confirmed they were having unprotected sex. She said people in the Church should not pretend that they are more holy but should be realistic about the situation. "The issue about the condom is, we are not packaging the message properly to include telling people the consequences. We can't tell everybody to abstain, it's not possible, maybe after a century," Prof. Luo said. "The Church in its teachings should emphasise that the condom was not a solution to AIDS." Prof. Luo said HIV/AIDS was a war. " And if we do nothing, it will be knocking on our heads instead of our doors," she said. Prof. Luo said HIV/AIDS was declared a national disaster in 1999 during the International Conference on AIDS in Southern Africa (ICASA) held in Lusaka but there had been no follow-up. She charged that Zambians were very good at making pronouncements but made no attempts to follow them up or implement them. Prof. Luo said there was need to revisit HIV/AIDS programmes and also called for a national policy on HIV/AIDS where everybody would participate. "It's not just good to sit in offices with titles, people are dying," Prof. Luo said. "We all need to go on a crusade and lobby for the World AIDS Day to be declared a no sex day." Prof. Luo said AIDS was a very difficult disease and as such no one can claim to have a cure. She explained that HIV was very difficult to cure as it attacked a human's immune system and usually mixed with one's genetic materials. And commenting on voluntary HIV testing by both political and Church leaders, Prof. Luo said it was wrong for one to take it for the sake of setting an example for others. And speaking at a fund-raising luncheon held at Paradise Reformed Church in Lusaka's Lilanda township yesterday, Lusaka Province deputy minister Patrick Ngoma said HIV/AIDS has robbed the nation of highly qualified people who were supposed to steer it to economical heights. Ngoma said the scourge had robbed the Church of able bodied people who could have assisted in spreading the Gospel. "The HIV/AIDS pandemic is real, it has no boundaries," Ngoma said. "It has left a chain of orphans too many to be looked after either by guardians or government." Ngoma said HIV/AIDS had brought up a new demand for a more closer relationship between the Church and the government. He said the two institutions shared one common commodity which was people. "This disease is robbing these institutions of this precious commodity at an alarming rate. HIV/AIDS is our common enemy," Ngoma said. "Therefore, the Church and the government need to have one common stand against the pandemic." Ngoma said the war against AIDS needed not to be lost in order to preserve people for the Church and the government. He emphasised abstinence since there was no cure for HIV/AIDS. Lilanda RCZ is carrying out fund-raising ventures aimed at soliciting funds for an orphanage to accommodate orphans whose parents died of AIDS.
"Church Urged to be More Active in the Fight Against AIDS." By Larry Moonze ZANA, April 17, 2002 The Church in Zambia has been called upon to get more involved in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A Church leader said in Lusaka today that the church was best placed to fight AIDS because everyone in the church was either infected or affected by the scourge. Reverend Harrison Chinsembu Overseer of Arise International Ministries made this call today when his church officially launched an HIV/AIDS and social concern project. Reverend Chinsembu said that there was an urgent need for the church to get more involved in the fight against the deadly disease as it was threatening the lives of most of its members. He said that as Pastor he spent most of his time at church and at the graveyard officiating at burials of church members or their relatives. He said this unfortunate development needed to be corrected. The reverend said that the social concern project, which was launched today, would make a difference in the fight against AIDS mostly because of its composition. He said under the project, there would be a Widows and Vulnerable Children s section which would be charged with looking into the welfare of those affected by AIDS. He added that a medical section would also be set up under the project and this would be tasked to look into the welfare of those suffering from the disease. He said that funds for the project would initially come from members of the Church and those in the committee while funds from other stakeholders would be welcome.
"Bishop Mambo Backs KK's Condoms Call." By Larry Moonze The Post, April 11, 2002 I concur with Dr. Kaunda's plea on condoms, said Church of God regional superintendent Bishop John Mambo yesterday. Bishop Mambo said with AIDS, the Church had to contend with moral weakness of man and if for some reason, unless one wanted to take his own life, he had to use a condom. "I know condoms are not 100 per cent safe, they can break, but it's time we take a leaf from Uganda, where the Anglican church helped in preaching behaviour change and the country is winning the battle," Bishop Mambo said. "Abstain, its biblical and is the key. But you know that HIV/AIDS has not spared anyone, myself, family, civil society among others." Bishop Mambo said the Church drew its inspiration from the Bible which states that one had to abstain till marriage. "Obviously we can not give a condom a seal of approval. Much as we can't let people die, no one will accept me preaching before the Church the safe way to use a condom," he said. Bishop Mambo said in appreciating the HIV/AIDS problem, the Evangelical Fellowships of Zambia, Zambia Episcopal Conference and the Christian Council of Zambia had formed an inter-faith unity with the objective of spearheading the struggle towards the pandemic. He said although the Church had broken the silence, it should not blame the Pentecostals for escalating HIV/AIDS. "I feel in the past, if we had not condemned and disparaged as sinners the first HIV positive and AIDS patients, things could have been different today," he said. Bishop Mambo said AIDS was real and therefore the Church should stand out in support of voluntary counselling and testing if people were to lead normal lives. "Testing to know one's HIV status and taking a stand is good. Not even the Vatican can say no to this," he said. Bishop Mambo said Dr. Kaunda's stand is challenging, especially that Zambia was currently seeing directionless NGOs mushrooming in the guise of HIV/AIDS advocates. He said with high poverty levels, AIDS was becoming enemy number one in the country. "Dr. Kaunda's efforts in fighting HIV/AIDS should be embraced by the Church if a catastrophe is to be avoided," Bishop Mambo said. "Dr. Kaunda has continued to show statesmanship and bravery since the death of his son Masuzyo."
"Anti-AIDS Coordinators No Longer Prophets of Doom." The Post, April 8, 2002 As HIV/AIDS continues to threaten people's lives, in Zambia there is a glimmer of hope as many non-governmental organisations targeting the infected and affected are formed, writes BENEDICT TEMBO. From being perceived as messengers of doom, Anti-AIDS coordinators under the Family Health Trust (FHT), a Norad-funded Zambian non-governmental organisation, have become prophets of hope for millions of Zambians as the pandemic takes its toll. Rosemary Zulu, a project manager with FHT in charge of the home-based care programme says when they started the visitation exercise of communities a few years ago, and they met hostilities and resistance. People in compounds refused to accept the existence of the HIV/AIDS until their children, parents, friends, or relatives started dying in numbers. "We have contributed in the reduction of HIV/AIDS prevalence, we are the key players as NGOs," Mrs Zulu said. Mrs Zulu's day at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) - the country's biggest referral hospital - starts by looking at files and correspondence from the registry of patients. It is at the hospital where she finds a horde of people from communities and attends to them, meeting them at their point of need. She also peeps in the pigeon hole looking for notes from medical staff for her to counsel people who have either been found to be HIV positive or have come for tests. Later, she visits her clients who are either at UTH or site clinics receiving treatment or recuperating from their respective homes. She encourages them not to give up on life. The home-based care Mrs Zulu coordinates has about 700 clients, 75 per cent of whom are adults above the age of 20. FHT chose UTH as the catchment area because that is where most patients go for treatment and diagnosis. And commenting on her philanthropic work, Mrs. Zulu said "it is not a hopeless situation." "In fact, a lot of them who suspect they have HIV and those diagnosed to have, hope they can recover from one infection or another, even if there's no drug for AIDS. Previously, there used to be that fear, but with counselling, it has brought hope." FHT plays a three-tier role in trying to influence the course of the epidemic that is threatening the existence of human beings on earth, particularly in sub-Sahara countries like Zambia. FHT offers support, prevention and care. FHT gives material support in terms of mealie meal, soya beans, high protein supplements and cooking oil to patients recovering from the pandemic. FHT conducts sensitisation workshops in communities, teach the family members how to protect themselves from HIV infection while caring for the sick and promoting the use of the condom. FHT gives simple drugs to relieve the symptoms. FHT buys drugs for patients. To effectively carry out their work, FHT have demarcated the capital city into six zones, each with a clinic manned by a qualified nurse who is helped by volunteers who have been trained by the Trust. The Trust has about 300 volunteers. In fact, the recruitment of community volunteers has been described as a huge success, which Mrs. Zulu says works for the continuation of the programme. The coming in droves of community-based volunteers to help has curbed the stigma of the HIV/AIDS which made the work of coordinators extremely difficult as people in compounds had made their homes "no-go areas" for people preaching about the pandemic. "We have seen a lot of people come forward to seek HIV testing. Also, they simply come to know their status before they either get married or when going abroad for studies," explained Mrs. Zulu about the breakthrough of the information and campaign programme in compounds and shanty townships. During weekends, FHT anti-AIDS coordinators spend their pass-time in communities with the mobile van. FHT Anti-AIDS Project Manager Mrs. Prisca Chitomfwa said the mobile van has made impact because of its features which include a public speaker system, video and television set. The van initially goes round a particular community with the announcer advertising a movie to be shown. When people gather, mainly entertainment-starved residents, the movie is shown depicting how HIV-AIDS can be contracted and how it can be prevented. This is later accompanied by talk-shows and members of the audience are invited to participate through the question and answer sessions. "It is a very good human resource mobiliser because of the public speaker system, it is a crowd puller," Mrs. Chitomfwa said the mobile van has proved handy because of its ability to attract people and reach areas which were difficult to access. It has turned out to be an effective coercive tool because people get motivated to learn more about HIV and is also a vital tool for training. Also falling under the FHT programme is the Children In Distress (CINDI) project, whose goal is to improve the quality of life for orphans. When CINDI started a few years ago, it had very few children under its custody but the advent of the pandemic has seen the programme grow to almost unmanageable levels. CINDI project manager, John Munsanje, said his organisation has now developed a bias towards children whose parents died from HIV/AIDS. The programme is now taking care of about 24,000 children countrywide. The programme is concentrated mostly in Eastern, Lusaka and Southern Provinces. "There is no coping, the rate at which children are being left parent-less is outstripping our resources," Mr. Munsanje said. CINDI caters for children's school needs including food, and clothing. The organisation has limited their charity to people not older than 20. The HIV/AIDS picture in Zambia is not gloomy after all. With the soaring number of non governmental organisations, disease awareness, HIV tests, and care for orphans are issues that are being addressed.
"ZBCA Calls on Companies to Wear Red Ribbons." By Webster Malido The Post, April 14, 2002 Companies should make it a rule for all workers to wear red ribbons, the Zambia Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (ZBCA) has recommended. According to recommendations arising from ZBCA's March 26, 2002 AIDS summit, companies have further been urged to make it compulsory that they are engaged in HIV/AIDS activities. Also recommended is the need for companies to introduce house journals as a way of breaking the silence on HIV/AIDS. To increase knowledge on HIV/AIDS at workplaces, companies are encouraged to conduct workshops and seminars regularly. Companies have also been urged to introduce medical schemes at the workplace for employees and their families. Other recommendations include the need for companies to adopt some clinics in compounds to help them run better as well as the need to participate actively in HIV/AIDS fund-raising ventures. Also recommended is the need for companies to develop creative programmes such as drama towards the fight against the killer disease. Companies have been advised to create partnerships with other companies abroad to broker some contributions to HIV/AIDS activities in Zambia. Big companies have been urged to establish their own voluntary counselling test (VCT) centres. Company executives have also been urged to lead by example in order to influence behavioural change. "Chief executives must stop shunning HIV/AIDS activities but take a much more positive attitude and participate fully in all HIV/AIDS activities," read part of the recommendations. The government has been urged to consider tax rebates for companies financing HIV/AIDS activities. The rest of the recommendations are that ZBCA itself should lobby government and donors to channel more resources to HIV/AIDS activities as well as to distribute its policy documents to all members.
"HIV/AIDS Makes Children in Africa Hopeless, says Ghanaian Artiste." By Reuben Phiri The Post, April 12, 2002 Children in Africa are hopeless as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Ghanaian born artiste Ama Ofusu-Barko observed yesterday. The United States based Ama said HIV/AIDS was much more prevalent in Africa leaving orphans and vulnerable children in its wake. She said this when she donated a K2 million cheque to Petauke AIDS Orphans Support Group which was raised from a musical concert she held in Lusaka last week. Ama said music was supported by the community and it was important to be able to give back to the community at some point. "I would like to thank the Zambian people for the support and hospitality shown to me. I thought I should donate to charity especially to a group in a rural area that helps out children whose parents died of AIDS," Ama said. Community development and social services minister Judith Kapijimpanga who received the donation said the government was doing everything possible to address the plight of orphans. She said government efforts were being supplemented by a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and churches which had set up orphanages around the country. But Kapijimpanga said the government was trying to encourage the upbringing of orphans within the families rather than in institutional settings like orphanages. "We would like to encourage families to raise children left behind by relatives so that they could grow up within the family unit," Kapijimpanga said. She said the government had also stepped up the campaign to sensitise people that AIDS was real and that they should stick to one partner. Father Jim Brady who received the donation on behalf of the Petauke Aids Orphans Support Group said he was cheered by the gesture to donate to a rural based organisation. Brady observed that most sponsors of charity targeted urban centres leaving the rural areas forgotten.
"Screen for All Sexually Transmitted Diseases." By Pelekelo Liswaniso
The Post), April 12, 2002
A Zambian researcher in natural remedies to fight against HIV/AIDS has appealed to newly established Voluntary Counseling and Treatment Centers (VCTs) to include screening and treatment of other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) like Gonorrhea, Chancroid, Herpes, and Syphilis in their programs because these diseases are on a sharp rise.
Dr Godfrey Shilalukey of the New Millennium Shilalukey Homeopathy Research Center said in Lusaka that a lot of attention has been directed at HIV/AIDS but other STDs which needs equally critical attention were also on the increase.
"The medical personnel at all major hospitals like the University Teaching Hospital, community health centers, herbalists, the Kara Counseling and the newly introduced Voluntary Counseling and Treatment centers like New Start and others should break the silence on these STDs," he said.
He said his clinic at ESCO complex in Lusaka and the Kabwe Homeopathy Research Center have recorded a huge increase in the number of cases of people suffering from STDs. Despite the widespread availability of condoms in the country, STDs were on the increase and have become a serious social and health problem like HIV/AIDS.
Just a matter of time
"Anyone with a chronic STD is just a matter of time for these carriers to fall into the category of HIV/AIDS because they are slowly being eaten by the disease," he said.
Dr Shilalukey who administers the Shilalukey Vital Blood Tonic (SVBT) - a combination of natural remedies- to his patients- said women were at greater risk because they can carry the STDs for a very long time before symptoms begin to show. STDs are spread primarily through intimate sexual activity. Many bacteria, viruses and other kinds of germs cause STDs. Sexually Transmitted Diseases were once commonly called Venereal Diseases (VDs).
He explained that Gonorrhea in men for example, causes inflammation, pain, burning and a profuse discharge of thick, light-yellow pus from the urethra. The male urethra, being much longer than that of the female, and having many glands and passages connected with it, is subject to a more severe early reaction, usually after a few days of infection.
Many women who do become infected get the disease from their husbands who have contracted it before marriage, or who have become infected through illicit intercourse after marriage. Women's sexual organs, being internal, cannot be so readily treated as those of men. Also a married woman is not likely to begin treatment early because of not suspecting the disease in her husband and does not apprehend trouble until pain compels her to seek medical aid. By that time the disease would have been fully established.
Same vigor
Dr Shilalukey observed that STDs were a major health problems and should be fought with the same vigor as AIDS, a deadly viral disease, which is also sexually transmitted.
He pointed out that because of their nature of transmission through intimate sexual relationships, they have been a problem for a long time. But he quickly noted that most germs that cause STDs die quickly outside the human body. For this reason, STDs are rarely, if ever, transmitted through contaminated objects, such as eating utensils, towels and toilet seats, or through casual contact such as coughing, sneezing or swimming in the same pool.
AIDS and a few other STDs may be transmitted through direct contact with infected blood. And all of the common STDs can be transmitted from an infected pregnant women to her baby. Transmission may occur as the fetus develops within the uterus during childbirth.
Breaking the silence
Dr. Shilalukey said breaking the silence on STDs should spread into homes. "Customs and traditions should be broken. Parents should openly talk about the dangers of STDs with their children. Do not leave the responsibility to uncles and aunties," he said.
He also observed that an individual's chance of becoming infected with an STD depends on a variety of factors. In general, people who begin sexual activity at an early age, have many sex partners, or engage in sexual intercourse with high-risk individuals such as prostitutes, are at high risk of infection. The frequency and duration of intercourse with an infected partner also influence a person's risk of infection with an STD.
He warned that individuals with genital ulcers may be more vulnerable than others to STD infections including HIV/AIDS. He further warned that it has been noticed that some STD causing organisms have become resistant to some of the drugs used for treatment and complicating efforts to control the spread of STDs. For example, some of the bacterium that causes gonorrhea have become resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics that are commonly used to treat the infection.
The most effective strategies to stay free from an STD are to abstain from intimate (skin- to- skin) sexual contact altogether, or to limit such contact to one uninfected partner, who in turn, has no other sexual partners. People can significantly reduce the risk of infection by using condoms or other protective measures during sex and by avoiding sex with prostitutes and other high risk individuals.
Dr. Shilalukey stressed that controlling the spread of bacterial STDs requires early treatment of infected individuals and their sexual partners. Many hospitals and community health centers have special clinics for the treatment of STDs. Treatment is usually accompanied by education to encourage changes in the patient's behaviour.
"People with sexually transmitted diseases, particularly viral STDs, often are unaware of their infection and may infect many others. Education is therefore the best tool for controlling the spread of viral STDs like HIV/AIDS," he said.
"Individuals who suspect they may have an STD should see a physician without delay. They should also stop all sexual activity until told by a physician that they are not at risk of infecting others," he added. When asked about progress on his SVBT cocktail, a multiple illnesses therapy, Dr Shilalukey said the HIV reversal symptoms on his patients were tremendous. "The patients are getting better and better and leading normal productive lives than before."
He said he was finalizing arrangements for clinical trials with the virology laboratory at UTH to confirm cases from his homeopathy research center. He thanked the Ministry of Health, Central Board of Health and other organizations for the support in the project.
"Use Condoms To Avoid Catastrophe, Dr. Kaunda Advises." By Reuben Phiri The Post, April 11, 2002 We must use condoms to avoid a catastrophe in Zambia, Dr. Kaunda has advised. Launching the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) crusade against HIV/AIDS in Lusaka yesterday, Zambia's first president Dr Kenneth Kaunda wondered why some Churches were against the use of condoms when the society was not pure. "We are still impure. The church has not succeeded in making us pure yet. I would advise all our Church leaders to reconsider the stand on the use of condoms," he said. Dr Kaunda, who is also founder and chairman of the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, said he was a believer in Christ himself "but as human beings, we are not pure not to use condoms". "Use them," Dr Kaunda said. "We must use condoms to avoid a catastrophe in Zambia." Dr Kaunda said the pandemic threatens millions of lives with nations, communities and families losing leaders of today and tomorrow to HIV/AIDS. He said the global situation was much worse than ever expected and AIDS is sparing no country in the world. "In countries that were thought to be relatively free such as Russia, the infection rate doubled in 2001 and increased by almost 20 per cent in the Caribbean," he said. Dr Kaunda said in Zambia, the situation could be described by one word, "terrible". Enumerating the rate of infection in Zambia province by province, he said Lusaka leads the country and noted that the statistics were vital because they revealed areas which attracted migrants owing to their economic and social activities and are the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infections. Dr Kaunda called on all Zambians to be proactive , dynamic and resourceful in response to the pandemic. "No amount of foreign aid can substitute for an energised populace. No one will do for us what we must do for ourselves. God helps people who help themselves," Dr Kaunda said. "The international community can only complement our efforts and not to direct or lead HIV/AIDS remedial efforts in Zambia." Dr Kaunda said the battle against HIV/AIDS was entering its third decade and spreading both in width and in depth in spite of the awareness campaigns, education and condom distribution. While access to anti-retrovirals was universally guaranteed in the Western countries, Dr Kaunda observed that this was hardly the case with sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Kaunda said latest reports indicated that the cost of anti-retrovirals were beyond the reach of HIV infected people in Africa with only between 25,000 to 30,000 having access to the drugs. He said Africa needed US$10 billion a year to satisfy the HIV/AIDS infected people and yet wealthy countries have only pledged US$ 2 billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS. Citing teachers as an example, Dr Kaunda - a former school teacher - said the rate at which the country was losing professionals was alarming and expressed fear that Zambia might return to the pre-colonial era when there were only 100 graduates at independence. He urged ZCTU to encourage its affiliates to establish work place policies and programmes in conjunction with the various management to fight HIV/AIDS. Dr Kaunda advised that each trade union must never discriminate against those found HIV positive and each of them should guarantee employee confidentiality among other pre-requisites. "If information leaks from the top management or hospital or clinic or indeed trade union that so and so is HIV positive, or has developed AIDS, the whole programme will backfire in your faces," he warned. Dr Kaunda suggested that each union should undertake care, support and treatment of its employees infected with HIV/AIDS so that they continue to contribute to the business for as long as possible through a range of care and support services in conjunction with other health care providers. He said where possible, the trade union should implement anti-retroviral treatment programme for its workers to suppress the development of HIV/AIDS virus. "I have no doubt that with the determination such as you have shown, we will succeed to reverse the HIV/AIDS infections and eventually eliminate it altogether," said Dr Kaunda. ZCTU secretary-general Sylvester Tembo praised Dr Kaunda for the role he was playing in the fight against the deadly disease. Tembo said the nation stands threatened by the ravages of HIV /AIDS as the able bodied are perishing at an alarming rate. "Your contribution in fighting the threats of HIV/AIDS and your efforts, at your age, directed at this noble cause makes you stand out unique in our society," he said. Tembo called for concerted efforts in intensifying the battle to the grass roots or perish. "Trade unions are well placed to help in the campaign against this scourge," he said. American Ambassador to Zambia David Dunn said he was cheered with the dedication of the labour movement in Zambia in the struggle against AIDS. He said to effectively combat the scourge, all elements in the society including religious groups, the military, business people and the labour movement must be involved. Meanwhile, Dr Kaunda had problems extricating himself from a mob of admirers who all wanted to pose for photographs with him after the official photo session. He was forced to dash for his car sending people into laughter and cheering, after his pleas to be allowed to leave, fell on deaf ears.

[Table of Contents] [AIDS/Zambia Index] [Alphabetical Index] [Zamnet] [UNZA] [UNZA Library] Eyebar
Send comments and/or suggestions to: medlib@unza.zm or lenny@library.health.ufl.edu
Copyright © 1996-2002, The University of Zambia Medical Library and Lenny Rhine
Guide to Medical Resources WWW site: http://www.medguide.org.zm/

Last updated May 16, 2002

Paediatrics & Child Health

Psychiatry

Pharmacy

Pathology & Micro-Biology

Physiological Sciences

Physiotherapy

Post Basic Nursing

Surgery

Medical Education Development

Teaching & Learning Resources

Academic Programmes/ Calender

UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA Med Guide Index Zamnet UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA Library

CONTACTING SCHOOL OF MEDICINE OTHER INSTITUTIONS BACK TO SOM HOME PAGE DEPARTMENTS Central Board of Health

Send comments and/or suggestions to: Stan chewe
Copyright � 1996-2001, The University of Zambia Medical Library and Stan Chewe
Guide to Medical Resources WWW site: http://www.medguide.org.zm/