CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Missé Nanando, Chad, September 1998
THEME = AIDS
During the 1980s, Chadians described AIDS
as:
"A disease invented to discourage lovers".
But they quickly changed their tune, because people were
regularly
having to bury members of their families. AIDS kills!
In 1986, two cases of AIDS were notified in Chad. Keeping in mind that statistics available in other countries of the same region, indicated that large numbers of people were afflicted with the HIV/AIDS virus, most Chadians were extremely doubtful about their own statistics. In fact, the situation vis à vis the epidemic, was to change very quickly.
Ten years later, in 1996, there were about 7,000 AIDS cases reported in Chad. People became extremely preoccupied with issues such as: becoming infected with the HIV/AIDS virus; and the large proportion of people in target groups infected by the HIV virus, and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)s. 39% of pregnant women; 70% of street girls and 21% of soldiers were considered to be carriers of one or many STDs.
Dr Mangdah Gaguet is in charge of Chad's National Programme for the Fight against AIDS. He says that 88% of detected cases are to be found in towns such as N'Djamena, Moundou and Sarh. But truth to say, the scourge of AIDS is not only found in urban centres. Rural areas have not been spared either, because people tend to move around a great deal, and there are seasonal migrations towards countries with a coastline, where AIDS is rife.
Since 1986, 1,000 new cases of AIDS have been registered each year, so much so, that specialists in epidemic control, think the large number of abortions taking place, are the result of many women having being infected with the virus. The total number of days people have to stay in hospital amounts to 1,150, and the current expenditure on medicines can only be described as "excessive". One wonders if the present 4,800 hospital beds available throughout the country, are sufficient for the number of people needing hospital care.
HIV/AIDS is increasing at a steady and rapid rate: 73% among the migratory element of the population; 26.4% among prostitutes in the main towns; 8.48% among military personnel.
It's important, however, to underline the efforts being made in Chad to check the spread of AIDS, and to explain who is involved in this campaign, both on a national and an international level.
The fight against AIDS got under way in Chad, with the setting up of the "National Programme For the Fight Against AIDS" (PNLS) and of the "Project -Population and the Fight Against AIDS" which englobes the "Support Fund for the Fight Against AIDS" (FOSAP). Thanks to these organisations, positive signs of progress are being noted. Let's take a look at what the PNLS is doing: Providing the necessary skills; monitoring the epidemic's progress; ensuring that all these organisations' efforts are reaching the people who really need help. And if all these various structures aren't enough, the government has recently associated the following key Ministries in the fight against AIDS - Finance, Education, Social Affairs, Justice, the Army.
The epidemic's strength has obliged national and international non- governmental organisations (NGO)s to give their support. The Research Consultancy for Charitable Works and Development (BELACD); World Vision (a British NGO); the Catholic Relief Organisation (SECADEV); the Swiss Tropical Institute/Socio-economic Support Consultancy (ITS/BASE), are all lending a hand in such areas as mother-and-child health care. The Information, Education and Communications Programme (IEC) has been especially active in family welfare and other issues, not forgetting psychosocial support.
All these contributions have been achieved, thanks to the drawing up in 1987, of a short-term action plan, centred on the management of urgent situations. The plan was backed-up by the establishment of the National Committee for the Fight against AIDS (CNLS) and the Expert Committee for the Fight against AIDS (CTLCS), plus various sub-Committees. These sub-committees look after clinical, psychological issues, and matters connected with epidemics; their field of action also includes ethical questions, research and ways and means of preventing AIDS.
Over and above what has already been mentioned to stop this 20th century scourge, other methods are used to warn the population about AIDS, and to limit the spread of the disease. The most important action taken, has been the organisation in N'Djamena, of a National Workshop on the necessity of involving all sectors of society in the fight against AIDS. The whole intention was to banish the reticence shown by some religious leaders (Ulemas [Muslim scholars], pastors in the Evangelical Churches, the Catholic clergy) regarding the distribution of condoms. Chadian religious leaders advocate marital fidelity (whereas most of them are polygamous) but at the same time forbid the use of condoms as a means of fighting against AIDS. The PPLS launched the Social Project for Marketing Condoms in Chad (MASCOT) as a means of ensuring people can get hold of condoms.
In our day and age, awareness campaigns are the best way of reaching all Chadians. The Pan-African Day Of The Woman held on 31 July 1998, took as its theme: "Women and AIDS." Conference-debates, round-table discussions and seminars were organised in Chad's main centres. On this occasion, Mrs Fititah Mariam, Director of Advancement for Women, said the only hope in fighting AIDS effectively, is to struggle against ignorance on the subject. The lady is adamant: she says that ignorance is the final bolt to draw back so as to "drive AIDS out of the country".
From 5-8 August 1998, a training seminar on Information, Education and Communication, was held in N'Djamena. Its specific aims were: to master the problems presented by HIV/AIDS; to overcome the ways AIDS is passed on from one person to another; to discover ways and means of preventing AIDS; to identify how AIDS is passed on by various target groups; to make full use of the expertise of those involved in the fight against AIDS; to reduce contagion by preventing its spread.
As for the possibility of limiting the advance of this scourge, some rather interesting activities are getting off the ground. The first is the establishment of an association specifically for people with HIV. This is a "first" for Chad. On 6 February 1998, under the auspices of the Head of State, a group of Chadians with AIDS met the Press. This served to de-mystify the illness. Before this meeting, people afflicted with HIV/AIDS were placed on the fringes of society and treated as outcasts. Ndiguingué Mayana is secretary-general of the Association of Chadians With HIV/AIDS. He was questioned as follows: "When AIDS, which kills large numbers of us everyday, strikes, where's this famous African solidarity we all know about?" Moussa Marie Eugène is a Chadian and is married with nine children. He has AIDS. He says such a situation has not encouraged people in his situation to openly admit they have AIDS.
In 1997, Mrs Jeanne Gapiya from Burundi, who is coordinator of the National Association of Burundians with HIV and AIDS, came to N'Djamena. She plays an active role in awareness campaigns carried out by UNAIDS in Chad. Chadians were stupefied to experience for the first time, someone who openly admitted to having AIDS. A year later, Chadians with AIDS organised themselves into a national organisation.
Within the same context, a study day was held at the Chari Hotel, dealing with the availability of antiviral drugs for all Chadians. Doctors, directly or indirectly involved in the fight against AIDS, were present at this study day. The meeting aims to establish a National Committee for making antiviral drugs available to all in need, and to identify which treatment should be used.
However, it must be pointed out that all these efforts are far from being the end of the tunnel. There are lots of other means which could be used in the fight against AIDS. Participants at the study day, found the number of awareness campaigns organised, to be insufficient. They are limited to the major urban centres and bring together mostly the intellectual element of the population. It's simply not sufficient to send people into the highways and byways of N'Djamena and then say: "Everyone's getting to hear about AIDS". AIDS in Chad is found in both the urban and the rural areas. If the entire population is to become aware of this epidemic, then it means contacting the 6,288,000 people spread across Chad's 1,284,000 sq.kms!
Villages decimated by the onslaught of AIDS are to be found in some Central and Eastern African countries. Chad's not reached that stage yet. But...and here's a big "but"...the high mortality rate registered in both general medicine and in paediatrics in urban areas such as N'Djamena, Sarh and Moundou, is precisely because AIDS is present mainly among young adults in the prime of life. There are also large numbers of paediatric cases.
The warning light gleams red!
END
CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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