The Sunday News
The fight against the HIV and Aids pandemic has come a long way globally and it has cleared many hurdles even locally where the stigma associated with the condition is slowly wearing off. However, while world leaders urging action towards reduction of infection are largely men, and many families are led by men, their leadership when it comes to practically confronting the pandemic beyond just making high sounding
statements has been called to question.
We believe it is about time men took on leadership in concrete terms by walking the talk. The HIV and Aids scourge cannot be wished away and if men bury their heads in the sand, they should not hope to encounter a different picture when they pull their heads out.
Our sister paper, Chronicle, yesterday reported that it emerged at a recent meeting in Bulawayo that men were reluctant to go for HIV testing, dealing a major blow to the fight against the pandemic. Statistics support that assertion that men were reluctant to test for HIV.
“In the districts we operate, we have tested 2 776 people since January and out of those people 981 are men,” said one official. We agree with the officials’ views that men’s behaviour is a cause for concern since it could result in re-infections and also see spouses failing to effectively implement anti-retroviral treatment, especially in cases where a partner refuses to go for testing.
We urge men to take health matters seriously and avoid taking unnecessary risks through irresponsible sexual behaviour that later makes some of them shun testing fearing the worst. It is more worrying that many couples continue to have children without knowing their status while some men use their wives as testing objects after they fall pregnant since it is an ante-natal requirement that they be tested.
It is during such times that men should support their wives by going for testing with them and being supportive even afterwards, regardless of the results. After all, there are now ways of protecting unborn children and prolonging lives for those that test positive to the HIV virus.
So concerned are the Aids organisations about men’s health that they are seeking ways of reaching men in an environment where they could accept their teachings, such as bars and sporting events. Elsewhere in this edition, we carry an article where officials say the new ART guidelines that encourage early testing and uptake of anti-retroviral drugs by persons whose CD4 count is 500 and below could be rendered futile if people do not test for HIV to ascertain their status in order to benefit from the drugs and prolong their lives.
Many people were reporting for treatment late since they only got tested after falling ill, when in some instances their immunity would have been seriously compromised. We urge everyone, especially men, to go for testing so that they know their status in order to make informed decisions regarding their health.
Leadership is all about showing the way in a positive way instead of revelling in our ignorance about our HIV status.
We believe men can do better and should do better and take their partners for testing and counselling instead of being dragged by their wives and girlfriends kicking and screaming when they are a big part of the HIV infection equation and could play a big behavioural part in seeking solutions to the HIV pandemic.
