Teresa
Wottalogg Out of Africa
TESTING TIMES IN AFRICA
I learnt something shocking on a recent visit to Africa.
Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are not allowed to
use voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services without their parents’
consent. I found this utterly astonishing and counterproductive and said as
much to anyone who cared to listen.
The chances of a typical young African person seeking parental consent in
sexual matters is almost non-existent. Young people need access to testing
so they can look after themselves and protect
others from contacting the virus in the event of a positive result.
Consequently young people are failing to access services because of the fear
of being ‘found out’ and possible ostracization by family and
friends.
Many African parents would like to believe their kids are not sexually active,
in spite of clear evidence to the contrary; teenage pregnancies, the increase
in sexually transmitted infections. These are also clear signs they are having
unprotected sex.
Parents burying their heads in the sand will not change these facts. Young
people are easily influenced by the hype and glorification of sex that tends
to happen in electronic and print media. We are
living in different times with fast-changing lifestyles and young people are
particularly prone to peer pressure. Some young people told me one reason
they were afraid to aproach VCT services is because they are provided by older
people. If this is the case, governments and adults should respond to this
fear by making it possible for young people to be counselled by others nearer
their age.
Community groups, churches and mosques should also preach about the importance
of people looking after their sexual health. Sex will not just disappear because
we are too scared or ignorant to talk about it. These young people are the
future and every avenue through which they can be reached should be explored.
During my visit I was also struck by the doom and gloom that relentlessly
afflicts the African continent and its people. If it is not war, it is severe
drought, famine, lack of adequate water, famine, poor health, or illnesses
like HIV, malaria and TB. Bad housing, poor educational facilities, bad roads,
you name it and you’ll find it there.
I
feel anger and desperation mixed with some resignation. I’m left hoping:
“God will do something in his own time”. It’s heartbreaking
to see the numbers of orphaned children, widowed men and women (many also
unwell) and grandmothers trying to eke out a living from the dry earth to
try and feed the hungry. All this in the midst of people with much more than
they need, both locally and internationally.
Still, I cannot fail to be awed by the seeming resilience of such a battered
people who go about their daily lives the best way they can. Droughts and
famine are scourges that have bedeviled Africa for years but they seem to
be getting more severe in intensity, making life particularly difficult for
HIV positive people and their families.
Thankfully, antiretrovirals are now more readily available but still thinly
spread. And then they only seem to benefit the better off; talk about big
fish callously swallowing the small ones.
To their credit, the government, NGOs and local and international donors are
trying to tackle this imbalance in the face of so many obstacles, including
lack of accountability and embezzlement of drugs and funds. Those who read
Kenyan papers are probably aware of the huge shake up in government due to
revelations by John Githongo, a former government anti-corruption chief in
exile in Oxford. He claims to fear for his life after he questioned multi-million
pound frauds by government big-wigs. Investigations to get to the bottom of
these allegations are underway, and it’s hoped, if government ministers
and other suspects are found guilty, foreign governments will release the
large amounts of embezzled funds stashed away in foreign banks. If this happens,
African governments will be forced to become more transparent and accountable
with taxpayers’ cash, we finally may get enough money to buy antiretrovirals
and related services for all HIV positive Kenyans that need them.
