| Q/A
'Communities, Not Just Drugs, Needed in Fighting AIDS'
HIV/AIDS cannot just be fought through medicine but by communities — and this where Africa and Asia can draw on their strengths, says Ferdinand Bleka, chairman of the AFRIJAPAN Foundation based in Cote d' Ivoire, in a chat with Inter Press Service Asia-Pacific's Suvendrini Kakuchi.
Bleka was in Kobe, Japan for the 77th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific on Jul.1-5, 2005. AFRIJAPAN is a programme under the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) that promotes Africa-Asia partnership.
Q: What is the importance of the Kobe conference for you?
A: I am here not only to participate in the conference but also to foster
closer exchanges between Africa and Japan on AIDS and HIV. It is important to have more Africans learn about how Asia is tackling HIV and AIDS towards promoting prevention and treatment by inviting Asian experts to the region and vice versa. Both regions share the same interests such as promoting aid, poverty alleviation and social empowerment in our efforts to control the HIV epidemic.
Q: What are the three biggest lessons that Africa has learned about the
HIV/AIDS pandemic since the eighties?
A: The lessons from the eighties are important. First, we now know that AIDS is not restricted to a continent, region, religion or colour. Migration of people has made the fight against the disease a multidimensional strategy and not only to be undertaken in one country, continent or organisation. One effort is not effective enough.
The second lesson is that prevention is a very important tool in the fight
against AIDS, and the most effective way of going about this is to help
people to find their own solutions.
We have learnt that the strategy of sending experts from the cities to start prevention programmes in rural areas will not work because the culture is different. For example, sex is viewed in African cities as something to be enjoyed whereas in the villages it is a process for reproduction.
So, if you send experts from the cities to promote the use of condoms, the villagers will reject this and call us silly. Thus, in order to show the villagers that condoms will protect them from HIV infection, we have to start training programmes with the participation of villagers themselves to help understand the effectiveness of condoms and take their own steps to promote prevention.
The third lesson we can share with Asia is the importance of communication and the focus on educating women and girls towards this purpose. AIDS is not only a medical problem but also an economic and social issue. We have seen that starting small communication centres in smaller cities across countries can be very effective to get the prevention message out to the rural populations.
For example, a small center in Hire, a small city in southern Cote d'Ivoire has started communication programmes in French and the local language to educate people on AIDS and HIV. Today, this area with a population of 20,000 is reporting a dramatic drop in new HIV infection rates — from 8 percent annually to 2.5 percent.
Q: What can you (Africa) learn from Asia?
A: Our organisation works closely with Japanese AIDS experts and have
benefitted a lot from the strong monitoring and survey skills of Asia. These methods have taught Africa the importance of developing solutions that adhere to the special needs of each community. Since the cultures of Asia and Africa are similar — respect for elders and the important role of the community in fighting AIDS — we are also learning from Asia on this aspect.
Africa can also share information from Asia on its successful programmes that approach religious leaders to send prevention messages in our rural
communities. We can also share information and work together on the issue of fighting the stigma that is strong against people living with HIV in both societies.
Moreover, the success story of the Thai government to extend ART
therapy to its infected populations that helped reduce the infection rate
can also be followed in Africa.
Q: The West has been successful in dealing with HIV through its well-funded medical programmes. What can Asia and Africa teach the West?
A: AIDS cannot be eradicated only with medicine. It is not like malaria or
polio where medical treatment, such as vaccines, can be the solution. AIDS must be fought through the community, which is still strong in Africa and Asia.
Q: What are the differences between Asia and Africa in the fight against
against AIDS?
A: There is a significant difference between the two regions in the
infection patterns. In Asia, infection is multidimensional because it
involves the gay community, transsexuals, sexual transmission and drug
users. In Africa, ninety percent of the infection rate is based on
heterosexual contact.
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