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NOW, at last, we can openly discuss it.
HIV/AIDS is no longer a taboo subject in Sierra Leone. There are believed to
be tens of thousands of our citizens carrying the HIV/AIDS infection. It is
conservatively estimated that in 1999 over 8,000 people died from full-blown
AIDS. Now we are told that a significant proportion of recruits in the new
Sierra Leone army and large numbers of former and possibly current members of
the peacekeeping ECOMOG/UNAMSIL contingents in Sierra Leone were, or are,
carriers of HIV. Some people have speculated further that a similar situation
exists among the rebel army and in rebel held areas. The killer disease
has certainly arrived, and has been in Sierra Leone for a long time. Focus on Sierra Leone will be quick off the mark. But in doing so, we have
to confess a sense of shame and failure in having had to wait this long to
comment publicly on the incidence (or not) of AIDS in the country. We would
be less than truthful to say that we did not suspect it all along. Rumours
have been circulating for some time and have intensified in the last five
years, that the disease was fast becoming the country's number one killer.
Both official secrecy and a disarming fixation for Sierra Leoneans to appear
‘holier than thou’, i.e. it can't happen here, had conspired to discourage
public discussion of the subject till now.
The truth is that
Sierra Leoneans in general have kept quiet about the incidence of this
affliction in their midst for a long time. Few have been brave enough to
raise public alarm over it. But if ever there was a good case for openness
with the public, this is one that has been begging persistently for the voice
and utterance of the experts' tongue. It is only through experts that the lid
of official secrecy can be removed from the festering cauldron harbouring the
dreaded killer disease. Although one
has occasionally heard some medical doctors privately express their concerns
about the spread of the disease, the average Sierra Leonean has been led to
believe that the many deaths occurring in their midst, which are painful
(especially for the victim’s relatives) to watch and have been preceded, in
most cases, by the physical wastage and progressive emaciation of the
victims, were caused by diarrhoea, pneumonia, malnutrition, hunger, worries,
etc, etc. The 'A' word was never mentioned openly, even when post mortems in
some cases allegedly attributed the cause of death to AIDS. We do not possess
any expertise on HIV/AIDS but we will nonetheless join others to initiate the
process of creating awareness of its presence among our citizens. Thank God,
someone has kindly obliged. The article in the UK Guardian newspaper War injects
Aids into the tragedy of
Sierra Leone, which
appeared on Saturday, 12 May 2001 could not have been better timed. It
provides an opening salvo to more open discussions of the matter now and in
the months to come. It explicitly, and candidly for the first time, describes
the situation in the country and raises important issues for the government
of Sierra Leone, civil society and the international community, which has
been the dominant player since 1997. We also understand that a more detailed
report is soon to be released by the UN. In fact, our own
research shows that, quite aside from the article in the Guardian, there had
already been information at the end of 1999, which indicated a serious trend
pointing towards creeping dangers for Sierra Leone with regard to the
HIV/AIDS infection. This information (see here) has been available for anyone
concerned enough, but we are not sure if our government ever used it to mount
a campaign of awareness among the population. There
are reasons why public reticence about HIV/AIDS is so sharply pronounced in our
communities. One is the fear of being stigmatised. Obviously, in addition to
the ignorance that exists about the disease, there is also the fear of the
social stigma that will attach to a victim, their family and immediate circle
of friends and associates. Such is the pervasive nature of the impact of
AIDS/HIV. In societies like our own, which are based on extended kinship with
very wide family circles, the effect of this can be devastating and
disconcerting for those affected. The issue thus becomes one of protecting
family honour and, when extended at the national level, protecting State
pride and honour. The South African President's current ambivalence and
resulting discomfiture over his country's affliction is a case in point. We are concerned
that Sierra Leone, too, is in a state of denial about the incidence of
AIDS/HIV among the population. It is the same state of denial that once
encouraged the belief, which accounted for the disgraceful complacency of
previous governments and the entire population, that the civil war was just a
minor skirmish by a motley group of bandits and did not merit the concern
that others were calling for; that it was merely country people squabbling
among themselves …until it finally arrived to hit them in the City; and the
arrogant assumption that, unlike other nationalities, Sierra Leoneans were
not capable of committing horrific violence on themselves and so blamed other
nationalities for their war. Only to discover now that some of the key people
involved came from well established household names in Sierra Leone. Now the chicken has
finally come home to roost. People need to be informed about AIDS. The
ravages of the disease are very well documented and there is no reason for
national complacency. But if Sierra Leoneans still want to treat this subject
lightly as they have tended to deal with other national emergencies before,
then we advise that they should again look at some of the harrowing
statistics emerging from Southern Africa. There, most of their governments
have at least accepted that that there is impending catastrophe and are
trying to do something about it. As has been starkly put in a recent
article, “One third of the population of Kenya is expected to die in the
first few years of this century. In Zimbabwe, it is thought that at least one
quarter of all working age adults are affected with AIDS. The United Nations
has called it the worst health catastrophe of the century. And life
expectancies have dropped drastically in many countries because of the epidemic
- from 61 years to 39 years in Zimbabwe, and from 66 to 48 in Botswana.”
(The Aids debate: Condoms vs. Development)
If it is true that
this thinking is prevalent among members of the present government, then we
say categorically to them that that they are wrong and that it is criminally
negligent for them to think so. Focus on Sierra
Leone will hold fire for
now until a UN report, which we understand contains a more detailed account
and data, is released. We must press for its immediate release to the public
so that it is not sanitised by officialdom as often happens with this type of
report. In the meantime, we challenge the Government of Sierra
Leone to come up with an official statement in reaction to the report in the Guardian (UK) article and, generally, on the
country’s state of health vis a vis a threatening Aids pandemic. The fact that an article like this
about Sierra Leone appeared in a serious international newspaper and a
government statement has not been made to acknowledge, rebut or confirm its
substance, is clear evidence of the lack of concern which have become the
hallmarks of this administration. They must answer some questions:
One person who comes out of this first
round of catastrophic news emanating from our beleaguered country, with
flying colours, is Major Dr James Samba of the Sierra Leone Army, whose frank
and outspoken statements were quoted in the above article. More pips on your
shoulders, Major! That's the least we expect from our public officials. © FSL |
