A man called Mango and his starring role in World AIDS Day

Mango was arrested last Thursday afternoon for killing several men, women, and children.  The authorities had been on his track for a while but owing to the lack of a coordinated effort by those in charge he was allowed to go and claim more victims. After his arrest, something shocking happened. Someone had unwittingly left the jail door open and allowed him to escape. His whereabouts are unknown but the people whose lives he has affected is very clear to see.  

Who is Mango?

Mango represents the story of HIV and AIDS, a killer on the loose in society. Since 1981 HIV and AIDS has killed over 25 million Muslims and non-Muslims around the world.  Another 33 million people are living with the effects of its attack.  

Today marks a day in which activists around the world are campaigning to bring about an end to HIV and AIDS. Today is World AIDS Day. But for us at the International HIV Fund, it is World AIDS Day every day. Collectively we need to throw this virus into jail and throw away the key. To tackle something however you must first understand it. Education and action go hand in hand. They are both part of faith. See: http://www.internationalhivfund.org/about-hiv-and-aids

Once someone wise said: ‘’HIV: You are either infected or affected’’. If you are not living with HIV, you are living in a community affected by it - which ultimately affects you.

It’s time to care.

Monkey, Man, and Ostrich (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

How can a medical problem become a cultural phenomenon and what is the relationship between both? Which started first and how can we deal with both?

In the case of HIV and AIDS its inception is debatable because we always blame the monkey. But the monkey is innocent: either we injected him with HIV or he was carrying it and transmitted it to a human being.  Whatever the origins of HIV, the monkey is not responsible for our sexual and drug addictive behaviours, which are found to be the prime causes of HIV transmission. 

I believe the monkey is innocent.

Let us discuss new cultural attitudes of the highly developed society that we are living in at the moment. The UN is developing what we call the ABC approach: A stands for ‘Abstinence’, B for ‘Be Faithful’ and C for ‘Correct and Consistent Use of Condoms’. Human attitudes towards sexual behaviour speeded up the transmission of the virus from generation to generation and from one gender to another.
The highly civilised culture reflects free sex for all with a partner who is from the same or different gender, and includes sex workers. The sidelining of the family issue and religious values and the stigma affecting the non-sexually active members of society breaks all the barriers and boundaries that builds the family which can build a stable society. The freedom of sexual behaviour and the availability of it for pre-aged school children is raising another alarm: inexperienced young girls and boys might have been contracting HIV and transmitting it without knowing. Furthermore, the acceptance of same-sex sexual practices as a part of our life becomes’ another source of transmission for HIV.

Moving out of sexual behaviour (which is debatable with a strong right according to where we are) we move onto drugs and addiction which constitutes a change of attitudes towards injected drug use as a whole. People do not discuss the issue of addiction but discuss the issue of the needle – and this is a shift in the mindset of a newly developing moral society value which has taken away all the moral teachings of religions that were brought to humanity to protect society.
When we look at all these factors which change the mindset of the people and encourage a drastic change in human behaviour, we find that this has led to the creation of a new culture which is facilitating the spread of the virus. 

We are left with one option: to try to protect our society from the devastating impact of the spread of HIV. The solution is to create another culture that can protect society from infancy and childhood to see an end to this ill (cultural) behaviour of the human race.

It will take some time - at least one generation - to bring about a second generation that understands the moral societal value that can protect the family unit and bring forth the future citizens of society who believe that citizens within the family is the most importance asset any nation can have. So while we are treating and looking after the people who are living with HIV, we need to build up this new culture which protects future generations.

At the end of the day we don’t want to become like the ostrich with her head buried in the sand. Rather we would like to face the route causes of the problem courageously: either cut it or change it to save the human race.

I have to admit that the monkey is innocent from the verdict of guilt that he has transmitted HIV to us. Let’s give the monkey his freedom by releasing him from the cage and look to the real causes of HIV.

What is Culture? (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

Yesterday the IHIVF coordinator spoke of her visit to a speakers tour which detailed the experiences of people living with HIV, and touched upon some of the issues surrounding the virus. Today, we shall continue with an analysis of the root causes of HIV by looking at some questions relating to culture.

Firstly, what do we mean by culture?

Is culture dictating our life?
Is culture a part of our religion?
Is culture the reflection of our civilisation?
Is culture a personal or common issue?
Is culture touchable or untouchable?
Does culture dictate rights and wrongs and if so, who judges this?

With regards to HIV and AIDS:
Is culture having an impact on HIV or not? And, is it still a medical pandemic or a new cultural phenomenon?

Part 2 coming up. In the meantime please let us know your thoughts on the above.

Can we eradicate HIV?

‘’Any movement starts with one person at a time...’’

These were the words ringing through my ears as I listened to the account of George, a young man from the USA who has been living with HIV for the past five years.

I was sitting in the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons for the Stop AIDS Speaker Tour, a part of the Stop AIDS Campaign. Joining George on the panel of speakers were Esnart from Zambia and Bonani from Zimbabwe. The meeting was chaired by Pauline Latham OBE MP, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS.

George, Esnart, and Bonani had different experiences of HIV. Whereas the first two had contracted the virus from others, Bonani’s experience differed in that he watched his brother, TJ, die from it.

The three speakers represented the scope of the virus across two different continents. In addition to there being disparities in access to medication, all three speakers stressed the lack of access to quality treatment which could enhance the quality of life for a person living with HIV. George for instance said there were very little support services available in his state for someone who had just discovered they were living with HIV. Upon learning of his status, he fell into a deep depression and turned to alcohol and cocaine to numb his pain. Touchingly, Bonani also recalled how his brother did not die from the virus; rather it was the lack of love and support from his family which had killed his spirit.
Meanwhile in Zambia, Esnart had watched both her husband and child die in a relatively short space of time but thought this may have been owing to other illnesses. One day she read a book about HIV and decided to get herself tested. She tested positive for HIV.

There are many issues at play here from the lack of vital services to the need for greater awareness and education on HIV. The experiences encountered by George, Esnart, and Bonani have led them to be active campaigners against the virus. It is a deadly virus but one that is also very complex in its character. Just as importantly, there is no cure for HIV. This makes it all the more important for us all to become more involved.
Perhaps the most inspirational story of the night came from Esnart. After her HIV positive status had been confirmed she met a man whom she fell in love with. One night, he confessed to her that he had HIV. They eventually married and had a child together who was put on treatment immediately after birth. Just recently, their daughter had her final HIV test which tested negative, meaning their daughter is officially free of the virus (despite both mother and father living with HIV).

Esnart’s story gives hope that there is every possibility of halting, reversing, and eradicating HIV.

Hall leading into Westminster

Big Ben

Grand Committee Room, House of Commons (more pics below)