Balance the blame
by
2008-12-04 09:51
Len van Heerden, News24 User
I wish to take issue with the constant hammering of former president Thabo Mbeki and former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
I am not saying that their activities should not be analysed and criticised where they are found to have contributed to the problem, but I take exception to these claims that they are the cause of so many deaths.
Yes, some kids are suffering as a result of their parents' actions, but the vast majority of those who are infected are infected because of their own actions.
I think the message needs to be balanced. As much as we criticise the government's response (which is way better than when the pandemic started, when the Nats would not allow condoms to be advertised or mention of sex on TV or radio), we need to blame those responsible.
I never heard Mbeki or Tshabalala-Msimang telling people to screw around. I never heard them telling people not to use condoms. When someone is sick from cancer, they go to their doctor or clinic to advise them of what they need to do. They do not go on the streets and toyi toyi that someone else needs to take care of them.
Take personal responsibility
There are many people in the country who lead a responsible life, but suffer from illnesses not of their own doing. They get no help from anybody and government is not blamed for not helping them.
The only way we can win the war against Aids is for people to take personal responsibility for their actions, before we pass the buck to government or someone else.
Yes, we need to hear a unified message from government detailing what the best protocol is in treating the disease. One day you hear that if people take anti-retrovirals when they are tested positive, then in 10 years there will be less infected people, and then we hear another message that prolonged treatment with ARVs can cause liver damage.
It is great that civil society is working together with government under Barbara Hogan and may this continue, but let us put the blame squarely where it belongs, ie that uncontrolled urge for people to screw without protection.
That is what kills people, and not government response to them committing suicide. Jacob Zuma is a great example of someone who knowingly endangered himself and his wives by having "consensual sex" without a condom with a woman who has HIV.
He then made ludicrous claims that he believed taking a shower would have the desired effect. How many Zuma supporters are out there who might believe this nonsense? Would Zuma blame Manto and Thabo for his actions? Surely not.
We need to send a message to the infected people telling them it is their fault that they are infected and the sooner they get off their arses and help themselves, the better.
Fear of discrimination
Seek help, instead of hiding behind some convenient excuse. Tough love can work. Victims of crime are expected to take themselves to hospital and their medical aid has to pay.
People suffering from cancer or other illnesses are expected to heal themselves but the group of individuals that forgot to take a shower, receive everything free and they still bitch about it.
Of course this does not mean sufferers have to be isolated or discriminated against. They are people too, and the better they are treated, the earlier they can come out and seek help/treatment. The delays now are caused by the fear of being discriminated against.
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