IN recent weeks, I have tried to put across a message that stigma and discrimination should have no place among people living with HIV.
Particularly, I wrote about a high-profile person in the name of Professor Samson Tembo who is an intellectual property owner, a lecturer, a businessman and, above all, proudly living with HIV.
Prof Tembo, who is a UN Ambassador for Intellectuals Living with HIV, publicly declared his HIV status in this very column and other media outlets and, in the process, met a woman, Nzila Kafwimbi, with whom he is soon expected to tie the knot in matrimonial unity. Nzila also went public about her HIV status through this very column.
As a result of these articles on Prof Tembo and Nzila, I have received phone calls, text messages and e-mails praising me for what many readers say educative and inspiring articles.
Others were in praise of Prof Tembo for his bold step to go public about his HIV status, being a high-profile personality.
The messages were too many but I thought I could share one of the e-mails I received from one ardent and concerned reader of this column which goes:
“With reference to the article that appeared in the Sunday Times of Zambia newspaper dated February 12, 2017, I would like to comment particularly on ‘Two Find Love’ under the AIDS Corner column.
The disclosure of Professor Samson Tembo on his HIV status, that he is HIV positive, is really a challenge to those who do not come out in the open.
One would take that as tagging HIV positive partners for marriage, a new positive ugenics. In America there are laboratories for ugenics though this was considered negative.
Even if the concept was based on quantifying heredity, selective breeding and in the end breeding better people had been regarded as a pseudo science.
In traditional Zambian cultural practices, feeble-minded, blind or the mentally impaired were denied marriages so that they could not reproduce.
If a child first developed teeth on the upper jaw, such a child was to be killed because they were considered to be a curse, so was the case with those born with HIV.
Strides will be made in getting to zero new infections if partners became faithful before marriage. In other words, being faithful to your partner reduces stigma and discrimination, and thereby enhancing adherence to HIV treatment and cure.
There are now higher chances of children being born to HIV positive partners adhering to treatment, free of HIV. The need for proper feeding practices should not be overemphasised as no treatment would be successful.”
Thanks my brother for this e-mail and many others that I have not had the chance to publish. Of course many were on the importance of people at all levels of life to come out publicly about their HIV status so that stigma and discrimination can be eliminated.
This will also ensure that those that are HIV negative can protect themselves from contracting the virus like Prof Tembo aptly puts it in his ‘We Care’ campaign that he has embarked on.
The issue of stigma and discrimination is one of the major factors hampering the fight against HIV and AIDS.
There are many people out there that are living with HIV but they do not want to talk about it to anyone, even to people that they are close to.
Some spouses start taking ARVs secretly without their partners knowing – all because of the stigma. That is why people like Princess Kasune, now a member of Parliament, Prof Tembo and others that have gone public about their HIV status should be commended as they are role models in encouraging others.
Lastly, a few weeks ago I had a chat with a freedom fighter, veteran politician, former diplomat and now Reverend Isaac Mumpasha who complained about the non-availability of capsules locally for packaging his HIV treatment herbal drug, LOSO, which he said to me he was in the process of changing its name.
Rev Mumpasha said it was difficult to acquire capsules in Zambia and, as a result, was finding it difficult to package his drug and was hopeful that some investors could venture into the capsule manufacturing business in Lusaka who would supply many other users.
Well, this is all for this week, but if you have any comments or you would like to join others in the fight against stigma and discrimination by going public about your HIV status or anything you would like to discuss pertaining to HIV and AIDS, TB, etc,
Feel free to write to knoxngoma@gmail.com or call/text +260955883143