Genocide and HIV

Since the detection of HIV infection as a cause for the chronic incurable disease AIDS, it has been a cause for anxiety and alarm all over the world, because it has been responsible for causing much sickness and deaths in, children, young adults and even the elderly. Initially thought to be a disease of homosexual men, people came to know that it also occurred due to heterosexual intercourse when the virus was detected in sex workers of New York City. Since that time, HIV has been recognised to be spread predominantly by sexual intercourse and is linked to sexual promiscuity. Hence, there has been a stigma attached to it. Many sexually promiscuous men infected their women at home. Apart from this, a large number of women have been infected due to sexual abuse heaped on them during conflicts like wars and genocides. Women are as such more prone to acquire HIV infection because the virus has a predilection for fluids of the female reproductive tract. The women who are infected later became the source of infection for other men who later abuse them. Thus, a vicious cycle is generated, whereas the number of infected cases rises. The number of sickness and deaths related to HIV/AIDS goes up. Children born to HIV infected mothers also become HIV positive as the virus passes across the placenta to the baby in uterus. The newborn also gets infected due to exposure to the infected birth canal of the mother. Due to the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in community and ignorance about the disease at large, these women and children are neglected by their communities. In such conflicts, men are mostly killed or are away fighting and hence not available to support their women or children in any way. These unfortunate women fail to support themselves and their children as they are chronically sick. Many of them succumb to their illness. Thus children are left orphaned, at the mercy of other people or aid agencies. Thus one can realise how a conflict and resultant HIV infection can play havoc with people’s lives and also of the next generation. Today, seeing the amazing tremendous progress, excellent public services and good law and order in Rwanda, it is difficult for an outsider to believe that 17 years before, one of the world’s worst violence was committed here in the form of the genocide. Women suffered in large numbers during this catastrophe. Many were raped, mutilated and murdered. Those who survived were left infected with HIV/AIDS by the perpetrators of the violence. This genocide was one of the main reasons behind the rise in the number of HIV cases in this region. Due to the utter chaos present at that time, there was no time or place for any of these victims of sexual violence to be tested or treated. It is only after the dawn of peace, law and order that many of these victims could get any medical treatment. The large number of men, women and children positive with HIV infection, needing treatment, physical and emotional support itself would have been a challenge for the government and various other organisations at that time. Gradually with help of international aid agencies, all concerned officials started the mammoth task of tackling this problem of HIV/AIDS. People were educated about HIV/AIDS, they were encouraged to come forward to test through voluntary counseling and testin). As people realised ways of how HIV was spread and how women were victimised and infected with HIV/AIDS, the stigma attached to it changed into sympathy and attitude for help. When antiretroviral therapy started over a decade or so ago, AIDS victims got hope of having better survival and quality of life. Initiation of PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission) helped in many children being born safely without infection. Today, with so many efforts in the positive direction, Rwanda has managed to maintain low prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS. Through these efforts, HIV/AIDS would very soon be in the annals of history. rachna212002@yahoo.co.uk