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Africa: HIV/AIDS Conference
Africa: HIV/AIDS Conference
Date distributed (ymd): 990915
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+ +gender/women+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains excerpts from several messages
concerning the Eleventh International Conference on AIDS and
STDs in Africa (ICASA), now taking place in Lusaka, Zambia,
including statements by African governments, NGO networks and
a keynote speech by a woman living with HIV/AIDS. Extensive
additional information, updated frequently, can be found in
the archives of the af-aids discussion forum at:
http://www.hivnet.ch:8000/africa/af-aids
In related news, the multinational Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association (PMA) has temporarily suspended its
legal action against the South African government concerning
South Africa's law on import and manufacture of essential
medicine. AIDS activists, however, warn that the dispute over
the draft law is not yet over
(see http://www.hivnet.ch:8000/topics/treatment-access).
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AIDS & XI-ICASA
E-mail af-aids@hivnet.ch
The Eleventh International conference on AIDS and STDs in
Africa (ICASA)
Looking into the Future : Setting priorities
for HIV/AIDS in Africa,
Zambia - 12 to 16th September 1999
AF-AIDS - Message 374
12 Sep 1999
Ten African Nations Declare AIDS a National Disaster
The Heads of State and government representatives of Ten
African Nations today declared AIDS a national disaster. One
after the other they spelled out how the impact of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in their countries has reached such a scale
that it is now without question their biggest single threat to
national and regional development.
The early morning meeting of Prime Ministers, Vice Presidents
and Ministers of Health from Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, took place today in Lusaka. One
of the aims was to make a clear political statement on
HIV/AIDS during the ICASA conference, taking place in Zambia
this week.
At the finale of the conference opening ceremony the
declaration was read aloud to participants - it was a
resounding call for more intense and coordinated efforts to
fight the epidemic throughout Africa.
Among the government comments recognising the magnitude of the
epidemic, the declaration openly states that 'HIV/AIDS is a
national disaster in our countries, requiring an emergency
response'. The government leaders committed themselves to make
HIV & AIDS a priority in all development programmes at the
regional, national and community levels, and to address the
'gap between declarations and their implementation' in a
realistic way.
The declaration should do a lot to alleviate doubts about
whether governments in the region have the will and commitment
to respond to the epidemic forcefully.
Some participants left the session commenting on the irony
that so many speeches about political commitment were made by
Vice Presidents and Ministers of Health, rather than by
Premiers. The absence of the Zambian President at a regional
conference held in Lusaka was mentioned in particular, and a
source close to the conference organisers said they were
'shattered' by his last-minute pull-out.
The full text of the declaration follows:
Declaration on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic at the XI-ICASA
We, the Heads of State and Government attending the XI
International Conference on AIDS & STDs in Africa, held in
Lusaka from 12th to 16th September 1999:
Recognising:
- That the HIV/AIDS crisis has become a fundamental factor in
Africa affecting Africa's economic and social prospects for
the future;
- That the HIV epidemic follows human migratory patterns and
therefore has no respect for human boundaries;
- That the HIV/AIDS crisis exerts undue pressure on limited
infrastructure, resources and impacts negatively on
productivity thereby affecting developmental programmes and
economic growth;
- That millions of Africans in their reproductive and
productive age are HIV positive;
- That HIV is a serious threat to human development, depleting
most educated, energetic and productive segment of our
population thus draining human capital development;
- That millions of children are orphaned as a result of
HIV/AIDS;
- That the HIV/AIDS crisis requires an emergency response;
- That there has been a gap between declaration and their
implementation;
Declare:
- HIV/AIDS is a national disaster in our countries requiring
and emergency response;
- That HIV/AIDS is a multi-dimensional problem requiring a
multi-sectoral approach.
Commit ourselves:
- To providing political leadership by increasing resources
made available to the response and providing an appropriate
policy and a legal environment;
- To making HIV/AIDS a priority in all development programmes
at the regional, national and community levels;
- To supporting the introduction of policies and programmes
that will raise awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS that will
culminate in behaviour change;
- To encourage dialogue, at all levels, on issues related to
HIV/AIDS, that will facilitate an open and supportive
environment for people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.
To this end and 'Looking into the Future', we undertake:
- To call upon regional and sub-regional structures such as:
OAU, ECA, SADC, ADB, ECOWAS, COMESA and the East Africa
Community, to put in place institutional frameworks that will
bridge the gap between declarations and the implementation of
declarations;
- To facilitate the development the development of health
policies that will build on the vast indigenous knowledge and
practice that will strengthen collaboration between medical
practitioners of traditional medicine;
- To encourage technical experts to undertake relevant
research on HIV/AIDS and implement their findings;
- To encourage direct regional and bilateral sharing of
experiences on lessons learnt in responding to AIDS;
- To call on bilateral and multi-lateral partners to support
the intensified action to curtail the spread of HIV by
augmenting the level of their support commensurate with the
scale of the disaster;
- To support the International Partnership Against AIDS in
Africa.
[Moderator's note: OAU - Organisation for African Unity, ECA
- Economic Commission of Africa, SADC - Southern African
Development Community, ADB - Afican Development Bank, ECOWAS
- Economic Commission of West African States]
AF-AIDS - Message 379
13 Sep 1999
Community Forum
XI-ICASA Lusaka, Zambia
InterContinental Hotel, 10-11 September 1999
During the ICASA opening, Mustapha Gueye (ENDA, Senegal) and
Lynde Francis (The Centre, Zimbabwe) presented a summary of
the community forum that took place for two days before the
conference.
The forum focused on two critical issues: treatment access and
participation by the communities in the Partnership Against
AIDS in Africa.
AF-AIDS/ICASA Key Correspondent Team
"We are providing a voice for the many millions of front-line
workers throughout the continent who cannot be here today, but
who are here with us in spirit.
The response to AIDS in Africa has depended heavily on the
courageous men and women who have been looking after their
families, children and the ones we love. Despite our efforts,
there remains a strong element of fear that continues to
manifest itself in denial, rejection and unnecessary
suffering", said Mr. Gueye in his introduction.
"We had great difficulty getting here, and it was very painful
to watch so much of our energy and resources being wasted
simply to secure us a place at this conference. We had hoped
that we had learnt from the difficult experiences of previous
conferences, but that was not to be. However, the networks are
committed to ensuring that this voice continues to ring out -
loud and clear", he asserted.
"Transparency of the decision-making process and
accountability among all of us here is paramount to our
efforts. We cannot stand here every two years and continue to
hold these discussions as we have done in the past. We are
falling behind the rest of the world in many areas".
The Community Forum - Summary Report XI-ICASA, September 1999
The Forum was organized by the African Council of AIDS Service
Organizations (AfriCASO), the Network of Zambian People Living
with HIV/AIDS (NZP+), the International Community of Women
Living with HIV/AIDS-Africa (ICW-Africa), the Network of
African People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAP+), and the Society of
Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA).
240 key frontline community workers and people living with
HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) to exchange and discuss common concerns of
people living with HIV & AIDS or affected by the epidemic on
the African continent, and to establish strategies for the
future. The theme was, "Looking into the Future: Community
Perspectives".
First introduced at the Yaounde Conference in 1992, the
Community Forums have been growing in importance as a key
opportunity for the community AIDS movement in Africa to
sharing information and strategies, to build skills, and to
develop consensus around specific issues.
This year's forum concentrated on two major components:
Accessing effective HIV/ AIDS Treatment & Care within the
human rights framework; and The International Partnership
against HIV/AIDS in Africa.
1. Accessing effective HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care
Keynote speeches by Lynde Francis (ICW-Africa) and Winstone
Zulu (NZP+) on the issues opened the discussion which was
undertaken in working groups. In the working groups, the Forum
participants identified the major barriers and constraints
that need to be overcome. Key issues that were raised
included:
* inadequate and unclear policies on HIV/AIDS made treatment
and care a difficult issue for implementation at national
level; * the weight of the dominant models; * the impact of
socio and cultural blockages; * limited capacities in term of
resource mobilization, planning, advocacy skills and
understanding of human right issues.
A consensus emerged that we cannot talk about access to
treatment without talking in the same breath about human
rights. All our countries are signatories to international
treaties and conventions that enshrine the right to health,
the right to share scientific advancement, the right to found
a family, and the right to education, to name a few. Access to
treatment, for instance, also means disseminating information
about affordable, available, appropriate methods of preventing
disease progression.
In the keynote by Ms. Francis, the lack of adequate funding of
the public health care system was summed by eloquently with:
"How can governments continue to afford guns but run out of TB
treatment?"
However, the Forum participants also recognized that some
successes have been achieved in some countries:
* political commitment; * better involvement of people
infected and affected; * better understanding of
multisectoralism; and, * a growing place of networks among the
different actors at the community level, and with other
stakeholders.
2. The International Partnership against HIV/AIDS in Africa
The participants, were committed to establish - through panels
and group workshops - a comprehensive diagnosis of the current
situation and the progress made to date by analyzing
constraints and successes, then - inspired by their
experiences - proposed recommendations in term of strategies
to overcome the barriers and to "Setting Priorities Into the
Future".
Feedback from a Community meeting held in Dakar (August 30-31,
1999), organized by AfriCASO and UNAIDS, formed the basis of
the review of the goals of the Partnership.
The working groups identified two key areas as ways to move
ahead:
a. that with few resources we can realize big results; and, b.
the linkages between human rights and HIV/AIDS are more easily
understood when translated in the daily life of affected
communities.
A consensus emerged that the major challenge - NOW - is to
ensure that the promises and partnership mechanisms
established during these conferences must:
* Bring the affected communities perspectives to the
international policy makers and players such as
multi-nationals drug companies. * Make sure the question of
access to drugs is no longer taboo. It is now increasingly on
the agenda although this is not adequate. * What is needed is
a partnership at all levels. An effective African partnership
should not be limited to the global level: it must also be
regional and national including all sectors (public, private,
NGO, communities, families, PLHA, etc). * When rooted at the
local level, this partnership should be sustainable. * The
resources are inadequate. Governments are negotiating with
donors, but little, if any, of these resources is transferred
to community action at the grassroots level. * Alliances need
to be formed with NGOs as they too have a role to play. The
result of the Forum's deliberations should be shared with
ICASA and included in future strategies for addressing
HIV/AIDS.
A final consensus emerged at the end of the Forum:
Firstly, there is an urgent need for all African countries to
immediately declare AIDS a national disaster. This Declaration
needs to be unequivocal and must carry behind it all of the
resources - human and financial - that our countries can
muster. Without this commitment, our efforts look hollow.
Secondly, there is the need to translate the current promises
into action. And here our reference is about turning the vague
concept of partnership into concrete action. The inclusion and
participation of the community sector requires resources to
fully participate.
Thirdly, there is the need to respect and promote human rights
principles for all of our work in HIV/AIDS. There were many
issues raised that we can classify within the right to health
and the right to share in the scientific advancements.
In conclusion, a final message regarding the African
conferences was raised by many participants. There was
consensus that African community networks need to be
strengthened to re-emphasize the role of the community sector
in policies affecting them at the local, national and regional
levels, particularly regarding how the conferences are
organised. The networks will need to take the messages and
conclusions of the Forum beyond this conference and work with
the various key actors in Africa to promote the issues raised
by the Forum.
"We know that adequate access [to treatment and care] is
complex; everything is complex. But we must start from the
basic principle that basic health care systems must be funded
to ensure quality, community-based care and treatment that
saves lives", said Lynde Francis in conclusion.
AF-AIDS - Message 381
14 Sep 1999
The Voice of the New African Woman
- AF-AIDS/ICASA Key Correspondent Team
Plenary Session: Monday 13 September 1999
DEALING WITH HIV/AIDS FOR AN AFRICAN WOMAN
Brigitte Syamalevwe
Brigette, as the first PLWHA speaker of the official
conference scientific program, received a standing ovation for
her plenary speech this morning. She had also spoken at the
MTCT symposium earlier in the week. She opened her talk,
refusing to be a statistic or material for research. She
wondered if she was asked to speak because there were no
others or because she had a story to tell. She said that
although she did not represent all African women, she was
"part and parcel" of African woman's experience. She referred
to a Bantu saying: "I am because you are, therefore we are."
"When I was infected in the early nineties, I was an adult,
professional woman, a wife, a mother and an active individual
in my community, which means HIV/AIDS found me an already
formed person having a set of values, character, behaviours,
principles etc."
She shared part of her story - deciding to test for HIV
although she was not considered to be in a high risk group,
deciding to disclose to her children and husband because
"secrecy makes us fail to relate to others," and deciding to
have her baby although she had tried not to become pregnant.
Women in our communities, she said, often have to wait for
their partner or clan to decide for them -- but she decided to
take a personal decision.
Her unity ritual at the start reinforced her message about the
importance of her spiritual rebirth when she discovered she
was positive in 1992. Her journey, she said, has been an
"on-going struggle for self identity and purpose."
Self-awareness, she said, is vital to living positively as a
woman in Africa, due to the cultural norms that put women in
a position to be told what to do and then dismissed. She
talked about the intellectual competency denied to women --
that women are expected to be told and dismissed, and are
perceived as a threat when they want to talk. She pointed to
an example of sexual restriction from a workshop she attended
in 1994 where "we asked for sex from our partners and
discussed the result in our next meeting -- from all 23 women,
all but one, we were abused verbally or physically by our
spouses."
"I live in a society that expects me as a woman to be
obedient, faithful, a custodian of culture and the same
society that turns a blind eye, if not encourages, men to be
unfaithful. A society where my worth is attached to my ability
to bear children....If women cannot be respected even in
discussing light matters, what more serious talk in
negotiation of sex."
"The ridiculous incorrect image of a woman in Africa is one of
the surest recipes for extinction."
She talked about the importance of keeping healthy -- living
in the 'now', taking time to rest, managing emotional health,
and avoiding infection. She mentioned that in her community,
like many others, it is customary to visit sick friends, but
she has stopped doing this because she wants to prevent
infection. She has broken a customary expected practice
She talked briefly about the availability and access to drugs
and said if only we could remember what we had been taught:
"if only we could share, we could all have access to essential
drugs." And she challenged men to respect the other half of
the world -- women -- and engage in the dialogue of
negotiating safe sex.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC's primary
objective is to widen the policy debate in the United States
around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa, by
concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant
information and analysis usable by a wide range of groups and
individuals.
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