Selling desperate people false hope, especially AIDS patients, are common on the African continent–well documented in my native country, South Africa–now there’s this “faith healer” in Tanzania who has people in East Africa traveling thousands of miles for a homebrewed drink that he claims can cure AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and other “incurable diseases.” There’s no evidence it does. The report above is by Kenya’s private NTV network. Above is Part One of the NTV report; below is Part Two.
After years of working in the United States, where they pay female drug users $300 to agree to be sterilized, Project Prevention has begun branching out to other parts of the world. Following a luke-warm reception in Britain, the organisation has now turned its attention to Kenya where it plans to start paying women living with HIV/Aids to accept long-term contraception.
Project Prevention is headed by Barbara Harris, who started the organisation in 1997. It was initially named CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity). While her PR has become more sophisticated in recent years, Barbara Harris has famously been quoted as saying “We don’t allow dogs to breed. We spay them. We neuter them. We try to keep them from having unwanted puppies, and yet these women are literally having litters of children.”
Before we close out the year we have to give a nod to the Centre for Development of People (CEDEP) in Malawi, has won the 2010 AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) HIV, TB and Human Rights Award. ARASA is a partnership of over 50 civil society organisations working together to promote a human rights based response to HIV and TB in the SADC region. In 2010, CEDEP was instrumental in successfully mobilising international and regional support for the release of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, arrested in Malawi on December 28 2009, on charges of “gross indecency and unnatural acts” after they engaged in a same-sex civil union. They were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour, but received a Presidential pardon following pressure from regional and international bodies. CEDEP winning this award is also especially relevant in the current climate of increasing anti homosexuality in the region. Just in the last few weeks news of a wave of anti homosexuality has once again hit the region with countries moving with co-ordinated purpose to eliminate the rights of sexual minority groups. At the United Nations, African and Arab nations succeeded in deleting three words from a resolution that would have included gays in a denunciation of arbitrary killings. Surprisingly, South Africa also supported the removal of these words from the draft resolution – given that South Africa’s Constitution–as an exception in Southern Africa–protects the rights of sexual minorities.–Brett Davidson.
The latest issue of the journal “Blood” includes an article reporting the effectiveness of stem cells on virtually eliminating the HI virus from a patient’s system. The HIV+ patient was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia with a stem-cell transplant combined with high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy: the researchers found that his HI virus levels were undetectable, subsequent to treatment. Here’s the abstract, broken down–but for the well-versed in molecular biology, read the article in PDF–by paying for a short term loan, or get it free through a library. We won’t be celebrating yet–it is an incredibly expensive treatment, out of the reach of most if not nearly all HIV+ people in sub-Saharan Africa (or anywhere, really). The researchers also cautioned that the procedure may not be safe or feasible for the wider population. But still: it’s an “advance” that we can be happy about.–Neelika Jayawardane.
The UK charity Body & Soul (a ground-breaking charity supporting children, teenagers and families living with, or closely affected by, HIV) recently launched a campaign, In My Shoes, to educate, and raise awareness of the stigma attached to those living with HIV. The Guardian’s feature covering the campaign included “some of those affected talk[ing] candidly about living with HIV – and why all they want is a normal life.”
But it seems as though the writer focused on the “African origins” of HIV.
Witness the three stores below, and the manner in which each person is framed:
The Social Justice, Gender and Health Reading Group, The Center for Place, Culture and Politics, and The Center for the Humanities present:
Remembering E.H. Carr and the Case for a New History in South Africa
Zackie Achmat
Tuesday May 4th, 6:30pm, Room 6402
Venue: CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016.
India and China have the largest numbers of tuberculosis cases, and multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been found in nearly every country. But it is South Africa, where TB often comes with HIV, that worries medical researchers.
Early December news report from German broadcaster Deutche Welle on the self-styled healers and profit-hungry businesses take advantage of the helplessness of people living with AIDS in South Africa. Until early this year, they had supporters at the highest level in government.
Anyone seen the new “documentary” film, “Fig Trees: A documentary about AIDS, Pills and Gertrude Stein” (2009) by Canadian director John Greyson? It’s about AIDS activism in South Africa (and Canada)? The clip, above, from the film has actors portraying South African AIDS activists (Simon Nkoli, Christopher Moraka, Gugu Dlamini and Nkosi Johnson) “… sing[ing] about their lives and their refusal to be immortalized as saints and martyrs“.
