Love and AIDS Prevention

Philipe Mutaka

Description

This book invites each one of us to learn from the mistakes of people who are victimes of AIDS. It also contains basic information on AIDS, various messages to specific categories of people, a strong appeal to repeal traditional evils against women, secret messages by various people to their sexual partner, an appendix that consists of texts which further encourage us to lead a safe sexual behavior.

Sujets

• Sexualité
• sexualité
• Sexualité
• Médecine
• Santé
• Médecine

Informations

• Publié par: L'Harmattan
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• EAN13: 9782296801035
• Langue: Français

Extrait

Love and AIDS Prevention
Philip Mutaka


Love and AIDS Prevention
From the same author

Mutaka, Philip. (ed). 2011. Glimpses of African cultures/Échos des cultures africaines. Paris : L’Harmattan (To be published).
Mutaka, Philip. 2011. Divine bud. Paris : L’Harmattan (To be published).
Mutaka, Philip. 2011. Bourgeon Divin. Paris : l’Harmattan (To be published).
Mutaka, N. & K. Kavutirwaki. 2011. Kinande/Konzo-English dictionary with an English-Kinande index. Trenton : Africa World Press. Voir aussi site < http://www.africananaphora.rutgers.edu/ >.
Mutaka, N.M. 2008. Building capacity : using TEFL and African languages as development-oriented literacy tools. Mankon : Langaa publishers, Lightning source, UK.
Mutaka, P. & F. Bolima (eds). 2004. Wish I had known. Yaoundé : Éditions SHERPA.
Mutaka, P. & F. Bolima (eds.) 2004. Si je savais. Yaoundé : Éditions SHERPA.
Mutaka, Philip. 2001. The Fruit of Love. Yaoundé : Éditions SHERPA.
Mutaka, Philippe. 2001. Le Fruit de l’amour. Yaoundé : Éditions SHERPA.
Mutaka, M.N. & B.S. Chumbow (eds.) 2001. Research mate in African linguistics : focus on Cameroon. A fieldworker’s tool to reveal the stories Cameroonian languages have to tell. In honor of Professor Larry Hyman. Cologne : Rudiger Koppe Verlag.
Mutaka, M.N. & P. Tamanji. 2000. An Introduction to African Linguistics. Munich : Lincom Europa.
Mutaka, M.N. 1994. Lexical Tonology of Kinande. Lincom Studies in African. Linguistics1. Munich : Lincom Europa.


© L’Harmattan, 2011
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ISBN : 978-2-296-54177-1
EAN : 9782296541771

Fabrication numérique : Socprest, 2012
Dedication
This book is dedicated to people of all faiths willing to recognize the following :

the existence of God as their almighty creator to whom they will be called upon to account for their actions upon their death

their genuine belief for the supremacy of this biblical injunction: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than this. (Mk 12:30, 31).
Preface
The greatest challenge that faces sub-Saharan Africa is to counteract successfully the AIDS pandemic. The various stakeholders in this fight against the scourge of the century have now recognized that HIV/AIDS is not simply a public health problem. It is a multisectoral problem and therefore it needs a multisectoral response. As has been pointed out in the World Bank (2000:20) document "Intensifying Action against HIV/AIDS in Africa : Responding to a development crisis," the successful national HIV/AIDS programs that work have the following points in common :

they have government commitment at the highest level and multiple partnerships at all levels with civil society and the private sector ;
they invest early in effective prevention efforts ;
they are decentralized and use participatory approaches to bring prevention and care programs to truly national scale ;
the response is forward-looking, comprehensive, and multisectoral ; addresses the socioeconomic determinants that make people vulnerable to infection ; and targets prevention interventions and care and treatment support to them

This document, Love and AIDS prevention, meets most of these criteria. The contribution of the AIDS prevention material from the ministry of Public Health in Cameroon as well as the testimonies of the AIDS victims, the messages addressed to various categories of people including Christians, Muslims, parents, the military, the students, decision makers, and the enlightening quotations from UNAIDS, WHO, World Bank on AIDS prevention make of this book a necessity for all the actors in the fight against AIDS to use it. It is necessary that people read this book as individuals, to get better sensitized about the implications of the AIDS pandemic for themselves and their families, but also for the protection of the economies of their countries.
It is by reading the book that people will realize that wishful thinking will not stop the AIDS pandemic. It is a proactive response by every individual based on the knowledge of facts made explicit in the book that will push people to change their behavior. Such facts are:

70% of all the AIDS cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. These are not simple statistics. These are human beings who have their families and children and who are affected by the AIDS virus.

In countries where the seroprevalence is not high yet, it is imperative that they become aware that, if nothing is done, seroprevalence will rise as is the case in a number of southern African countries where it reaches a third of the adult population. This means that, if nothing is done, such people will die within 5 years. Fighting AIDS is a way of protecting one’s loved ones from suffering and from the numerous expenses one would necessarily incur in case someone in the family were to get infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.

The number of orphans will increase if nothing is done. In the long run, the good will of the political and religious authorities or the family structures will not be sufficient to take care of these orphans.

Absenteeism caused by the AIDS pandemic will affect all the sectors of the economy of countries. If nothing is done and that people keep dying at a more alarming rate because of AIDS, not only will able-bodied people be lost, but also, as workers take care of the sick or participate in the funerals, productivity is bound to decline.

If the pandemic were to worsen, that would be an absolute catastrophe : there would not be enough beds in the hospitals for the sick, no funds to take care of the sick, and the risk of famine will increase as is already the case in many southern African countries.

Because of all these reasons, we must meet the challenge raised in this book to pose a special act that will make a difference in the aggressive fight against the AIDS pandemic. Let us find ways to make people read this book. Let us disseminate it all over sub-Saharan Africa. The fight is ultimately ours. For our own survival, we must fight until we win. Spreading the prevention message is our surest means to protect our own families and our national economies from the scourge of the AIDS pandemic.
As a conclusion to this preface, I would like to reiterate our acknowledgements to those who contributed to the production of the first edition of Wish I had known (that gave rise to this volume Love and AIDS prevention) , and also to all those who encouraged us to produce this second edition for a wider dissemination of its AIDS prevention message. Most of you have indeed found the message of this book pertinent although it has never been advertised. I would like to particularly thank the wife of the President of Equatorial Guinea, Mrs. Obianguema Mbazogo, whose interest for this book made us realize more acutely why this book was most important for women and why it was crucial that they be the ones to play the most important role for the dissemination of its message.
If you come to think of it, 58% of the HIV-positive adults for the end of the year 2002 are women as reported by the UNAIDS 2003 document, "an Update on HIV/AIDS." As also pointed out in a publication of the World Bank, Intensifying Action Against HIV/AIDS in Africa: Responding to a Development Crisis , for every 15-to 19-year old boy who is infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, there are five to six girls infected in the same age group as is the case in Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (World Bank 2002: 8).
Whether we like it or not, it is imperative that women be closely involved in the strategies to fight this AIDS pandemic as they are the ones who are mostly affected by this disease. Our mothers are the ones who experience the long-range after-effects of the death of a husband or a child suffering or dying from AIDS. As deftly commented by the World Bank,

The disease mainly strikes people in their prime years. Worldwide, AIDS hits people hardest in their most productive years. This profoundly disrupts the economic and social bases of families. When a family loses its primary income earner, its very survival is threatened. It sells assets and exhausts savings to pay for health care and funerals (World Bank 2000: 8).

To counteract the nefarious consequences of the AIDS pandemic, we wish our governors, whoever they may be, to find means to disseminate this book as widely as possibly, for example in schools, university campuses, women’s associations, municipal libraries, etc. To fight efficiently the spread of AIDS within our communities, it is crucial that we ponder this statement from "a message to decision makers" in chapter three of this volume: "knowing that AIDS is a deadly disease is not sufficient ; posing an act that will push people to change their ways is what will make a difference. And you can do that."

Yaounde, Cameroon, September 16, 2010.
Prologue
Imagine for a moment what your life might be in a year or two. Close your eyes and tell me sincerely what you find. Perhaps, your life will not change a lot as is true for most people. But, for some people it will change dramatically. It is sad to recognize it, but