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Although one has occasionally heard some
medical doctors privately express their concerns about the
spread of the disease, the average Sierra Leonean has been led
to believe that the many deaths occurring in their midst, which
are painful (especially for the victim’s relatives) to watch and
have been preceded, in most cases, by the physical wastage and
progressive emaciation of the victims, were caused by diarrhoea,
pneumonia, malnutrition, hunger, worries, etc, etc. The 'A' word
was never mentioned openly, even when post mortems in some cases
allegedly attributed the cause of death to AIDS.
We do not
possess any expertise on HIV/AIDS but we will nonetheless join
others to initiate the process of creating awareness of its
presence among our citizens. Thank God, someone has kindly
obliged. The article in the UK Guardian newspaper
War injects Aids into the tragedy
of Sierra Leone, which appeared on Saturday, 12 May
2001 could not have been better timed. It provides an opening
salvo to more open discussions of the matter now and in the
months to come. It explicitly, and candidly for the first time,
describes the situation in the country and raises important
issues for the government of Sierra Leone, civil society and the
international community, which has been the dominant player
since 1997. We also understand that a more detailed report is
soon to be released by the UN.
In fact, our
own research shows that, quite aside from the article in the
Guardian, there had already been information at the end of 1999,
which indicated a serious trend pointing towards creeping
dangers for Sierra Leone with regard to the HIV/AIDS infection.
This information has been available for anyone concerned enough,
but we are not sure if our government ever used it to mount a
campaign of awareness among the population.
There are reasons why public reticence about HIV/AIDS is so
sharply pronounced in our communities. One is the fear of being
stigmatised. Obviously, in addition to the ignorance that exists
about the disease, there is also the fear of the social stigma
that will attach to a victim, their family and immediate circle
of friends and associates. Such is the pervasive nature of the
impact of AIDS/HIV. In societies like our own, which are based
on extended kinship with very wide family circles, the effect of
this can be devastating and disconcerting for those affected.
The issue thus becomes one of protecting family honour and, when
extended at the national level, protecting State pride and
honour. The South African President's current ambivalence and
resulting discomfiture over his country's affliction is a case
in point.
We are concerned that
Sierra Leone, too, is in a state of denial about the incidence
of AIDS/HIV among the population. It is the same state of denial
that once encouraged the belief, which accounted for the
disgraceful complacency of previous governments and the entire
population, that the civil war was just a minor skirmish by a
motley group of bandits and did not merit the concern that
others were calling for; that it was merely country people
squabbling among themselves …until it finally arrived to hit
them in the City; and the arrogant assumption that, unlike other
nationalities, Sierra Leoneans were not capable of committing
horrific violence on themselves and so blamed other
nationalities for their war. Only to discover now that some of
the key people involved came from well established household
names in Sierra Leone.
Now the
chicken has finally come home to roost. People need to be
informed about AIDS. The ravages of the disease are very well
documented and there is no reason for national complacency. But
if Sierra Leoneans still want to treat this subject lightly as
they have tended to deal with other national emergencies before,
then we advise that they should again look at some of the
harrowing statistics emerging from Southern Africa. There, most
of their governments have at least accepted that that there is
impending catastrophe and are trying to do something about it.
As has been starkly put in a recent article, “One third
of the population of Kenya is expected to die in the first few
years of this century. In Zimbabwe, it is thought that at least
one quarter of all working age adults are affected with AIDS.
The United Nations has called it the worst health catastrophe of
the century. And life expectancies have dropped drastically in
many countries because of the epidemic - from 61 years to 39
years in Zimbabwe, and from 66 to 48 in Botswana.” (The Aids
debate: Condoms vs. Development)
We have been moved to go public with our comments in the wake
of the publication of the Guardian article because we have been
told by one usually reliable source that the unofficial
reaction, last week, from government sources in Freetown was
that the claims about and HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sierra Leone were
exaggerations, and that the matter is not as serious as claimed.
If it is true
that this thinking is prevalent among members of the present
government, then we say categorically to them that that they are
wrong and that it is criminally negligent for them to think so.
Focus on
Sierra Leone will hold
fire for now until a UN report, which we understand contains a
more detailed account and data, is released. We must press for
its immediate release to the public so that it is not sanitised
by officialdom as often happens with this type of report.
In the meantime, we challenge the
Government of Sierra Leone to come up with an official statement
in reaction to the report in the Guardian (UK) article and,
generally, on the country’s state of health vis a vis a
threatening Aids pandemic. The fact that an article like
this about Sierra Leone appeared in a serious international
newspaper and a government statement has not been made to
acknowledge, rebut or confirm its substance, is clear evidence
of the lack of concern which have become the hallmarks of this
administration. They must answer some questions:
Were they aware of the
situation described in the Guardian? If so, how much more do
they know, and what have they done to inform and prepare Sierra
Leoneans?
What, if anything, have they
done to alert those who know more about this disease, to help
and advise us on the ways of dealing with it?
One person who comes
out of this first round of catastrophic news emanating from our
beleaguered country, with flying colours, is Major Dr James
Samba of the Sierra Leone Army, whose frank and outspoken
statements were quoted in the above article. More pips on your
shoulders, Major! That's the least we expect from our public
officials.
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