Stigma still surrounds HIV/AIDS

LERATO MALEKE
Correspondent | Wednesday May 22, 2013 00:00

The study was conducted by John Hopkins Bloomberg (School of Public Health) and amfAR, in partnership with Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) the results of which are presented in a report titled 'Achieving an AIDS-Free Generation for Gay Men and Other Men Having Sex with Other Men (MSM)' in Southern Africa.

Civil society advocates studying the implementation of programmes for gay men and lesbians were conducted in the six southern African countries, namely, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Positive change is happening in Botswana though, as some government officials speak openly about the need to work with MSM. The report says the country is currently poised to be one of the first on the African continent to finance HIV programmes for MSM with public money.

In Malawi, currently the US government and UNAIDS provide vital technical assistance and resource support to community-based service providers. However, it is reported that violence and discrimination within and outside of the healthcare setting remain major impediments despite high-level government commitments to change.A highly publicised trial of two men in Malawi arrested for attempting to get married brought considerable attention to the needs of gay men in 2010.

Namibia, as an upper middle- income country, is reported to be seeing its share of donor resources dwindle. However, it is these donors, primarily the US government, that have played a key role in maintaining MSM in national strategic frameworks and implementation plans. There is concern that the transition to full country ownership will happen without regard to the needs of this population.

In Swaziland government denial according to the report, of the existence of gays, lesbians, creates an environment in which it is difficult to know whether or not programmes for homosexuals actually exist. It appears some condom and lubricant distribution programmes exist, but the report says they are available in limited coverage areas in urban centres. Other reports indicate that programmes designed for multiple key populations focus primarily on serving female sexworkers. Government resistance for homosexuals according to the report remains strong.

In Zambia a coalition of NGO's struggles to deliver services and advocates in a legal environment that cripples the country's national HIV response. The report says that harshly critical statements from religious leaders and respected clinicians further alienate and stigmatise homosexuals, limiting their willingness and ability to access prevention and treatment programmes. Further, the report states that government corruption forced the transfer of donor money from public to private, religious implementers in 2010. That change has had significant, negative consequences for Zambian homosexuals, so says the report.

And finally the report states that in Zimbabwe police actively pursue and arrest those suspected of being homosexuals or working on their behalf.  As in other settings, strategic documents with commitments to homosexuals are drafted with no real intent to carry them out.

However, the deliberate effort by national authorities to associate same-sex sexual practices with western culture has only further politicised this issue in Zimbabwe.