By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
“It is my conviction that the pandemic is a grave threat to human dignity and life in all spheres.”
So said the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, on Monday at Eros Primary School. She was the guest speaker at the launch of AIDS Awareness Week under the auspices of the Ministry of Education in the capital.
“One of the most devastating aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the growing proportion of children the disease has orphaned, and family disintegration thus having a negative impact on the care and protection of children,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
She is of the opinion that unlike most other diseases, HIV/AIDS generally kills not just one, but both parents.
“What is more, the stigmatisation and discrimination that people infected and affected with HIV often live with is passed onto their children, making their fight for survival that much more precarious. When parents or caregivers fall sick and die, a child’s life often falls apart. With HIV /AIDS, the hardship hits well before children are orphaned. First a parent or caregiver becomes ill with AIDS and is unable to work, thus denying the family an income,” she charged.
She said that the entire family feels the economic impact – children, especially girls, must often drop out of school to go to work, care for their parents, look after their siblings and put food on the table.
“On top of the psychological impact of losing one’s parents, children who lose their parents to AIDS are often stigmatised or ostracised by their communities. These children are much more at risk of becoming victim of violence, exploitative child labour, discrimination or other abuses. As such, Namibian children must be party to the fight to stop the spread of HIV,” she urged.
The minister also elaborated on the direct effects the disease has on children.
“Surviving children face malnutrition, illness, physical and psychosocial trauma, and impaired cognitive and emotional development. Girls are especially at high risk of sexual abuse. And because of all this, they too are very likely to become HIV-positive. There is no doubt that HIV/AIDS is causing adverse effects on societies in many other ways, such as a huge increase in the number of orphans, a decrease in the number of school teachers, a larger financial burden on the government and a lower productivity,” she argued.
She further warned learners that they are playing with fire with casual relationships.
“Your behaviours must be directed to make a future Namibia free from HIV/AIDS. At your age you know no love. Having what you call girlfriends and boyfriends, you are just playing. But I warn you don’t play with your life and the future of this nation. Put all your efforts on education and study,” she asserted.
HIV/AIDS has now become a development problem and not merely a health issue.
“Across sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV/AIDS epidemic is most severe, the extended family traditionally needs to be strengthened to take “CARE” of children who had lost their caregivers. We may all accept that this traditional safety net is collapsing due to the weight of the HIV/AIDS crisis and other facts. But the time has come for us to find ways of strengthening the traditional safety net,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
The challenge before us is that many children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
“By 2010, this number is expected to exceed 150 000. With the country’s infection rate still rising, HIV/AIDS will continue to cause unprecedented suffering among children for at least the next decade if not forever. It takes roughly 10 years between HIV infection and death from AIDS, so today’s prevalence levels will largely determine the number of orphans over the next decade,” she calculated.
This pandemic threatens to take away the hopes for the future of our country, especially that the young generation are at risk due to peer pressure and the dossier of experimenting with new things.
“It is for this reason that we are here today to take a vow to protect ourselves by taking a bold and decisive action to prevent new infections and improve the quality of “CARE” and treatment for those who are already HIV-positive.
This actual awareness-raising must call for the greater efforts of everyone of us to ensure an AIDS-free generation in the years to come,” she concluded.