Can world stamp out Aids by 2030?

At 11pm on Monday night, just like most nights, Aline went to work; she’s is not a night-guard but a call-girl and work to her means the street where she meets sex-partners. Earlier that day, the world had marked the World Aids Day and vowed to end it by 2030. Aline, a commercial sex worker around the Kigali Business Centre (KBC) had heard on radio that morning about the World Aids Day but she quickly navigated to another channel; she would rather listen to music or a comical show than a discussion about HIV/Aids. “The subject depresses me, the mere thought of it is terrifying,” she said. Ironically, while Aline is scared of getting infected she often ‘sells’ unprotected sex at ‘premium prices’ to those who can pay more; usually starting from Rwf50, 000 for a night. “It’s a job to me and there’s a risk in every job, am sure even in yours too,” she bravely asserts. Aline says she chose prostitution after dropping out of school pregnant from a random sex partner. “After I failed to get money for a safe abortion, I had to find ways of fending for myself and the baby,” she says.She was 19 when she joined prostitution four years ago. Prostitution forms part of the stone-wall separating the United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (Unaids) and its newly announced target of ending the disease by 2030. Observers say this is a daring ambition because it means there’s only 15 years within which to meet the deadline. The media, known for their love to criticise the rational of policies, were widely expected to question the practicability of this new target and whether it won’t turn out to be a white elephant wish. But, in Rwanda, this year’s national theme places the media at the vanguard of the battle against HIV/Aids and will, therefore, be expected to craft messages that offer helpful solutions to contribute toward meeting the target. “Media is powerful, media is key; one word, one text can save thousands of lives because God has given you this power to communicate,” said Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, head of HIV, STI and blood borne infections division at the Rwanda Biomedical centre. But what does ending Aids actually mean? That’s the first question to answer even before the media run off to print or broadcast or tweet; there’s a difference between HIV and Aids. HIV is the virus which, once left to grow untreated climaxes into Aids, a stage of total body failure resulting from the break-down of the human immune system –owing to the virus. “Ending the Aids epidemic by 2030 is possible, but only by closing the gap between people who have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services and people who are being left behind,” said Lamin M. Manneh, Rwanda’s UN resident coordinator. Manneh said two things need to be done; communicate to help prevent new infections, and for those already infected with the virus, encourage them to drop the fear and freely seek treatment to prevent the virus from graduating to Aids level. Actually, more evidence is emerging to suggest that treatment has the capacity to incapacitate HIV’s ability to kill. The World Aids Day 2014 report shows that 35 million people worldwide were HIV positive by the end of 2013, showing an increase in the number of those living with the virus. However, the good news is that because of treatment, fewer HIV positive people are dying, and because they’re living longer, the statistic grew. A recent study by Oxford University reported that HIV may be naturally evolving into a milder and less fatal virus by adapting to the human immune system. The main indicator, the scientists conducting the research said, is that HIV is taking longer to transit to Aids and now virologists say it may eventually become “almost harmless. While this is good news, it also presents a communication crisis. Telling young people who, according to recent reports are the most at risk, that HIV is no longer harmful might actually trigger them into a sex-spree which would endanger them further. Focus, Partner, Achieve Therefore, while it’s true HIV might eventually become less harmful, there’s need for prevention messages to be focused in order to achieve the 2030 target, especially through close partnership with stakeholders. Well focused partnership can achieve this ambitious target just like Donald W Koran, US Ambassador to Rwanda, said in an OPEd published Monday by this newspaper. One area where the media can focus on through partnership with major stakeholders is prostitution and getting the message heard by people like Aline who admits she doesn’t want to listen to HIV-related discussions.Aline said she’s never tested and doesn’t know her status. But she has a theory that gives her courage and confidence. “I am still attractive and I rarely fall sick which means I am healthy,” she naively stated. With life-saving ARVs, many HIV positive people look extremely healthy (sometimes healthier than those who are negative) but these could still pass on the virus through unprotected sex. Therefore, experts like Dr Nsanzimana believe there’s need for a more serious media campaign to encourage people to test and know their HIV status – for its only when one knows they are sick that they can actually seek medication before the virus gets to Aids level. Rwanda HIV status Most recent statistics place Rwanda’s HIV prevalence at 3 per cent. There are 135,000 adults and 8000 children who are on anti-retroviral therapy, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health. According to Mahayimpundu Ribakare, Director of HIV care and treatment at RBC, “the fight against HIV/Aids can never be won if the media does not play their role to disseminate related information.” Most experts who spoke on the Wad occasion observed that the media have a social responsibility to educate and inform and that’s why they are important stakeholders in the HIV/Aids campaign. The challenge is that media outlets are struggling to make ends meet and anything else outside news is treated like advertising which someone has to pay for. “The theme is good as it challenges the media but those behind it need to have a discussion with media gurus to actually chart a way forward through which they want the media to play a part,” said one marketing manager of a local radio station. If it’s holding a discussion, it would be nice to start with one regarding ladies of the night like Aline who says she sleeps with a minimum of ten men in a week. “If am sick, many more (her clients) are also sick,” she admits. But it’s something she’s not prepared to know through testing.

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Can world stamp out Aids by 2030?