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Black community paying the price for HIV/AIDS!

by drdue · Comments (0)

08 Dec

By: NNPA
NNPA
Originally posted 12/7/2010

With World AIDS Day having passed, black advocates say the deadly disease continues to inflict a staggering human and financial toll on the African American community.
The AIDS epidemic has claimed the lives of more than 230,000 African Americans during the past three decades. And although black Americans constitute just 12 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 46 percent of the 1.1 million Americans currently living with HIV.
To some observers, the fact that America hasn’t yet won the battle against AIDS boils down to pure economics.
”If we had large numbers of millionaires, billionaires and those impacting the economy dying of AIDS, I guarantee you a cure would be found virtually overnight,” says LaMont Evans, CEO of Healthy Black Communities Inc. in Atlanta.
”It’s sad to say,” Mr. Evans told BlackVoices, ”but there’s a lack of urgency in addressing this problem because those impacted are seen as disposable and not economically important.”
Whether one agrees with Mr. Evans, he may be on to something: Wealth and status indeed play a huge role in the likelihood of becoming infected with HIV in America.
In a first of its kind study on the link between economic status and HIV, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2010 that those living in poor neighborhoods were more than four times more likely to be stricken with HIV, compared with the national average.
Researchers theorized that residents in poor areas had limited access to health care and other basic services, along with higher rates of substance abuse and incarceration – factors that heighten one’s risk for HIV.
”This study reveals a powerful link between poverty and HIV risk and a widespread HIV epidemic in America’s inner cities,” said Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. ”In this country, HIV clearly strikes the economically disadvantaged in a devastating way.”
So, if it’s clear that individuals in poor communities in general, and African Americans in particular, are being disproportionately ravaged by AIDS, what is being done to prevent the disease from spreading? Critics say not nearly enough.
Until this year, America had no comprehensive program to fight the AIDS epidemic. Then, in July 2010, President Obama launched the first National HIV/AIDS Strategy, designed to reduce the number of new HIV infections, increase access to care for people living with HIV, and reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities.
For 2011, President Obama’s federal budget includes a $27.2 billion request for HIV and AIDS. That’s a 4.6 percent increase over 2010 funding, which totaled $26 billion.
But just three percent of the 2011 AIDS budget, or $900 million, is earmarked for prevention. Many AIDS advocates say this is completely insufficient, especially considering that one study conducted by the CDC and John Hopkins University showed that for every HIV infection prevented, $355,000 is saved in the costs of providing lifelong HIV care and treatment. The study concluded that an investment of $4.5 billion in HIV prevention during 10 years would save $104 billion in medical costs.
With relatively few dollars devoted toward prevention, it’s little wonder, perhaps, that every year, about 56,000 Americans are infected with HIV; 25,000 of them are African Americans.
The CDC says one in 22 African Americans is expected to get HIV during their lifetime. The CDC estimates that the chances of a black person being diagnosed with the AIDS virus is more than twice the risk for Hispanics and eight times that of whites.
For Hispanics, the odds of contracting HIV in one’s lifetime is one in 52; it’s one in 170 for whites. Meanwhile, Asian Americans had the lowest lifetime risk, at roughly one in 222.
In some parts of the country, namely the nation’s capital, the rate of HIV infection is particularly alarming. In 2009, a Washington Post story, citing CDC data, reported an HIV prevalence of at least 3 percent among individuals age 13 and above in the Washington D.C. area. That’s an infection rate similar to some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global AIDS Problem
And speaking of AIDS in Africa, the problem there isn’t getting any better either.
The worst-infected region of the world is sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately 22 million people are living with HIV, which is two-thirds of the 33 million people globally who are living with HIV.
Of the $27.2 billion federal AIDS budget requested by President Obama for 2011, $6.7 billion is allocated for global efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.
But federal AIDS funding is broken into two parts. A chunk of it – 47 percent or $12.9 billion – is mandatory, and must be spent on various entitlement programs. However, the majority of the AIDS budget – 53 percent or $14.3 billion – is discretionary, meaning Congress has to approve it through the appropriations process. That worries some people.
Federal funding for HIV/AIDS is already a tiny fraction – less than 1 percent – of the overall federal budget of the United States. And, with Republicans recently taking control of the House of Representatives, some observers fear what the GOP may do concerning AIDS spending – domestically and internationally.
The recent election results ”present at least three major challenges to the fight against AIDS,” Phill Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, said in a statement. ”First, many of the strongest congressional AIDS champions will no longer occupy key leadership positions to advance an AIDS-friendly agenda,” Mr. Wilson said. ”Second, the new Republican majority campaigned on a platform of reducing federal spending on discretionary programs, such as the Ryan White CARE Act, the HIV prevention program at CDC, and substance abuse and mental health services for people living with HIV,” he added.
”Third, although it is unlikely that Republicans will be able to muster the votes needed to repeal health care reform, critics of health care reform may well seek to withhold the funding needed to implement key provisions of the legislation,” Mr. Wilson noted.
The Ryan White Program is the largest HIV-specific discretionary grant program in America. With $2.3 billion in funding requested for the program in 2011, the Ryan White Program is also the third largest source of funding for HIV care in the U.S.

Recent Promising Developments
The news about AIDS isn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, three recent promising developments in the fight against AIDS all emerged on the same day:
o A new research study showed that a daily pill now being sold in pharmacies nationwide could help prevent the spread of AIDS among gay and bisexual men. The pill is called Truvada and is marketed by Gilead Science. It was shown to reduce the risk of infection by anywhere from 44 percent to 73 percent.
o Likewise, AIDS advocates cheered the news that the number of HIV cases has dropped significantly during the past decade. According to the United Nations, the total number of HIV cases worldwide fell by 20 percent in the last 10 years, and there are now 33 million people living with HIV.
o That news came the same day in which the Pope issued a statement saying condom use is acceptable in order to prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
While the general population greeted these developments with great enthusiasm, the reaction in the black community was more tempered.
Mr. Evans, who is leading the efforts to organize National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7, 2011, questioned who would pay for the pricey drug Truvada. ”Will it be insurers or the government?” he asked, suggesting there’s ambiguity on whether or not members of poor and minority communities will have access to those pills.
The Truvada pills cost between $5,000 and $12,000 annually in the U.S. They sell for a tiny fraction of that – around $140 a year – in some poor countries that are selling generic versions of the pill.
In America, AIDS patients with good health care coverage can get anti-retroviral treatment. But those who are uninsured or under insured typically have to go without or resort to public programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Ryan White Program.
With funding for those programs subject to Congressional approval, many AIDS prevention advocates worry that the battle against this deadly disease is far from over.
The high rate of HIV infection among African Americans is ”compelling proof that you get what you pay for, or that you don’t get what you fail to pay for,” says Mr. Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute, adding, ”We simply won’t be able to turn the epidemic around in black communities without stronger federal support for HIV prevention.”

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J L King wants to stop spread of HIV/AIDS! Do you?

by drdue · Comments (0)

13 Nov

The fight to end AIDS and HIV begins and ends in the church, says J.L. King, the author and gay activist best known for chronicling the lives of straight black men who sleep with other men.

“The church has always been a pillar in our community. The church has always been the place we go since back in the day,” King said. “The church needs to provide love, understanding, respect and support. If the church doesn’t do its part, no one will.”

It’s why, King says, his frequent visits to Augusta always revolve around the life and community of the local church.

On his fourth visit to Augusta, King hopes to pack Broadway Baptist Church today with men and women dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV and addressing the role of gays and lesbians in the church.

He expects a lot of women to show.

“Women come out. Lots of women come out. They want to meet the guy who met Oprah,” King said with a laugh.

King has appeared on the show a few times to warn women. His first book, On the Down Low, described men sleeping with other men, even as they live otherwise straight lives. He wrote it in 2004 and says the practice is still common.

“Women know it’s going on,” he said. “It’s still very much alive and well. HIV is still attacking our community.”

King says he’s grateful for the dialogue that has emerged since the Rev. Eddie Long, the pastor of an Atlanta mega-church, was accused of sexually abusing young men. The lives of gay men in the church have long been surrounded by an uncomfortable silence, King said.

“A light is being shone on the black church,” he said. “The church is going to have to know how to deal with it. It starts at the top.”

Though much of his talk is directed toward individuals, King says he hopes today’s session will encourage pastors and church leaders to take the lead in creating open, accepting environments.

On a practical level, he says, pastors can start ministries for gays and lesbians or offer HIV tests. Some pastors will choose to take the test first, in front of their congregations.

King said he was thankful for the leadership shown by Broadway’s pastor, the Rev. C. William Joyner, in addition to those at Augusta-area churches such as Beulah Grove, which played host to a previous visit with King. This is King’s fourth trip to Augusta, organized by Sandra Wimberly, a friend and a public health educator with the Richmond County Health Department. King spoke locally in 2003, 2007 and 2008.

“Dr. Joyner is straight-minded,” King said. “He’s not afraid to tell the truth.”

It hasn’t come without a cost, Joyner said.

“A lot of my preacher friends don’t think too well about it,” he said. “But I understand the need. I’d like to warn all our sisters to be careful.”

Preaching about HIV awareness and the risks women take when in a relationship with men on the down low isn’t enough, Joyner said.

“Sometimes you need to be exposed to the truth of the times. J.L. King speaks that truth,” Joyner said. “I’d rather take a hit on my reputation than see someone dying with AIDS.”

King agrees.

“Somebody needs to be talking about this. I’m the only black man doing this,” he said. “I stood on Oprah and said, ‘I’m a black, gay, proud man.’ I’m not going to live my life for anyone else, but people can see, here’s this guy. He’s married. He’s a father. He’s a businessman. He doesn’t have to be a swinging sissy. He’s a strong black man.”

Since coming out on Oprah , his speaking engagements have skyrocketed. King says he’s busier than ever.

“I think God chose me to be the face of this movement,” King said. “I’m the new face of black gay men.”

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Categories : HIV and Aids

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The downside of ‘friends with benefits’

by drdue · Comments (0)

17 Apr

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN senior medical correspondent

(CNN) — When Jennifer Nicholas sees television shows or movies where characters “hook up” or have sex with “friends with benefits,” she cringes, because that’s how she got herpes.

“Getting an STD wasn’t even something that crossed my mind,” said Nicholas, 39, who learned that she had herpes at age 22. “One day I’m at the doctor’s office and it was, ‘Surprise! You’ve got herpes.’ ”

Experts in sexually transmitted diseases say they’ve become increasingly concerned about the trend toward having what they call “sexual involvement in nonromantic contexts” — the technical term for hookups or “friends with benefits” — because they’re especially likely to spread sexually transmitted diseases.

The concern is that that people who have nonromantic relationships tend to have several partners at one time — “concurrency,” in sexual behavior lingo — in contrast to people engaged in romantic relationships, who tend to be monogamous for the duration of the romance.

“We’re concerned that concurrency is speeding up the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases,” said Tony Paik, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Iowa who recently published a study on the subject.

“This is a direct route for spreading STDs. There are important implications here for public health,” he added.

In Paik’s study, published last month in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, he found that 17 percent of men and 5 percent of women had at some point had more than one sexual partner at a time. Seventeen percent of women and 8 percent of men said they’d been exclusive but their partner had not.

For both genders, having sex with a friend made someone less likely to be monogamous.

“Sex with the ex”

Peggy Giordano, a professor of sociology at Bowling Green State University, studies the sexual behavior of young people, and she’s also concerned about the phenomenon of having sex in nonromantic ways.

“It seems more acceptable now to have nonromantic sexual encounters,” said Giordano, who’s studied the sex lives of 1,300 teens and young adults in Lucas County, Ohio. “When there’s no romance, there’s no basis for demanding fidelity from the other person.”

She says it’s not just the number of partners at one time; it’s that people’s behavior seems to be different when they’re having “friendly” sex in contrast to romantic sex.

When people have sex with a friend, they tend to be more trusting that the person doesn’t have a sexually transmitted disease and therefore fail to use a condom, she says.

“If you’ve known a person for a while, you don’t have that vigilance. You’re probably not going to ask them to go and get tested for STDs,” Giordano said. (To find out whether you should get a test for an STD, you can take this quiz.)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help you find a testing site near you.

This lack of vigilance about STDs is especially true when the sexual partner is a former boyfriend or girlfriend, she adds.

“We’re finding that ‘sex with the ex’ is a very common experience,” said Giordano, who’s been studying the group of Ohio youth since 2001.

“It’s seemingly safe, since they used to be your girlfriend or boyfriend. But of course you don’t know what they’ve done since you broke up. You don’t know their full portfolio of partners,” she said.

What are the chances?

Through her work with the Atlanta H Club, a social and support group for adults with herpes or the human papillomavirus, Nicholas is now more aware of the chances that a prospective partner could have a sexually transmitted disease.

It’s impossible to say precisely what the chances are you’ll catch an STD from any one person, but there are studies that can give you a clue. One important factor to keep in mind: For biological reasons, women are more likely to catch an STD from a man than vice versa.

Human papillomavirus

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About one in four U.S. females age 14 to 59 has HPV, according to a 2007 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The HPV rate was highest — 44 percent — for women ages 20 to 24.

HPV is not as common in men, according to a 2006 article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, but is still “highly prevalent.” The study, which looked at 40 studies on HPV and men, found that 56 percent of the reports found that at least one in five men had HPV.

Herpes

Nearly one in five Americans has herpes simplex virus, according to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The rates for women were higher than for men: 23 percent, compared with 11 percent. Rates were especially high among African-Americans.

Gonorrhea

Your chances of getting gonorrhea from a sexual encounter are significantly lower than your chances of getting HPV or herpes. A 2007 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed a 0.24 percent prevalence rate. Rates were highest among teens but still less than 1 percent.

Chlamydia

Nearly half of the people in the above study who had gonorrhea also had chlamydia, but again, infection rates were significantly lower than for HPV and herpes.

According to a 2007 report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 2.2 percent of Americans ages 14 to 39 had chlamydia. The rates were highest for teenage girls (4.6 percent) and for black women (7.2 percent).

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Categories : Abortion, Abstinence, Adultery, AIDS, Anal Sex, Arousal, Asexuality, Fetish, Fornication, Gender Identity Disorder, Harlots, Herpes, HIV and Aids, Oral Sex, Panties, Penis, Perpetrator

Tags : sex

Red Panties! This is the beginning of my story:1946 – 1986.

by drdue · Comments (0)

12 Apr

Red Panties represents the title of my memoir that I am writing these days and desire to have available for your reading pleasure soon. The memoir will cover the period of 1946 through 1986 and reveal the types of things that I went through being a Christian saved and sanctified with the gift of Holy Spirit speaking in tongues and a Sex Addict simultaneously.

This book will reveal how God in His mercy blessed me to overcome being sexually abused as a child, raped and molested. The book will show how God blessed me to transition from my childhood sexual tragedies to becoming a fully fledged sexual addict and finally receiving complete healing and deliverance by God Himself.

His Word says that “He sent His Word and healed them of all their destructions.” That is exactly what God did for me by blessing me to forgive and unconditionally love my father, brother and sister who were my abusers. You will say where my mother was – she worked three and four jobs to keep us from being hungry, homeless and helping my dad build a church.

I know my assignment is to uncover, expose and be one of the many catalysts to get people talking about the taboo of sex so that the spirit of shame, embarrassment and guilt is broken and bringing healing to those who desire help.

It is now time for others abused like me (male and female) to be able to confront our abusers and release ourselves from the bondage that has held so many in silences for too long. This is necessary even if the abuser claims to be innocent as I found out when I confronted my brother. I never did get to confront my father, but I have forgiven and love him unconditionally which the Lord blessed me to do rather than for me to go to hell with the hate that was in my heart for my father. My sister and I have reconciled and we chat periodically.

Only God could deliver me from sexual addiction since the world system does not believe you can be delivered.

Red Panties will be graphic to make the point for you to know that no matter how deep the sin and sinful behavior God delivers. Red Panties is actually the book that represents my behavior before I wrote “Don’t Say a Word About This! Exposing and Confronting Sexual Perversion!”

In Red Panties you will learn just how the Lord brought me out of sexual perversion and how he has given me the ability to help those who desire to be free totally in body, mind and soul from what I believe to be the most addictive behavior on the planet – sexual addiction.

Red Panties is written in a style that may offend some Christians and cause them to cringe at its candor and detail. This detail is written to let you know that I know what I am talking about and how I can help you that desire to be helped with love and understanding. The book is not about condemning anyone or character assassination, but rather exposing the truth as I experienced it.

God desires the best for all of us, but each individual needs to want to receive God and enjoy Gods best here on this planet. He will not make us do anything we do not want to do.

You will be able to order your copy of Red Panties soon.

Loren C. Due, Ph.D.
(970) 204 1559 Office
(970) 231 1511 Cell
(877) 373 8399 Toll Free
ten.eciffotsewqnull@eudrd

http://www.drdue.com

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Tags : Memoir

“Precious”

by drdue · Comments (0)

28 Nov

Precious

10 +

You got it – 10 +

It is so about time that the truth be told about incest in the black community; since I read 5 out of 300 books said they would not deal with us because we were like animals or we were not worth it to research about. That is what white people said about us in their books – on the subject of sexual abuse.

You want to know what I think, well here is a sample of what you are going to get in my new book about me – detailed events that will make some sick and others will be turned on by the explicit facts of all the sexual acts that God allowed me to live through to get complete and total deliverance and healing of sexual abuse.

My hat is off to Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for having the guts to back a movie that illustrates the detail of this story about Claireece “Precious” Jones. For them to have shown what a young black woman endured in her home is remarkable. When they made it clear that her mother was her biggest enemy, it let me know that they were willing to pull off the gloves and spill their guts.

Claireece is exposed to:

Rape and incest by her father

Sexual Abuse by her mother

Ridicule by the neighborhood kids

The brunt of fat jokes

Pandered by her mother

Beat by her mother

Thrown out of her high school

Ignorance and Welfare Queen Syndrome by her mother

A very kind and loving lesbian teacher in the alternative school

And it seemed as if she was exposed to much more – go see the movie for yourself if you can find it playing. We live in a 99.9 % white community and they have chosen not to bring the movie here; so we traveled to Denver to see it on a big screen.

If you don’t see another movie this year and if your denomination believes it is wrong to go to the movies you need to go to this movie if you are Afro-American or Black.

This movie is a true representation of what many blacks have had to live through to survive the system in America.

Don’t give me or anyone else any excuses why you can’t see this movie. Go now!

Loren C Due, Ph.D.

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Tags : Down Low, Incest, Lesbianism, Rape, Sexual Abuse

First Blog Radio Program for me!

by drdue · Comments (0)

08 Apr

April 7, 2009

Thanks to all who listened tonight as read and commented on various Google Alerts. The whole idea of the program is to get people calling in and sharing a prospective on relevant issues. We are going to expose and confront any and all issues dear to our hearts.

Be on the lookout for an invitation to the next 90 minute program where you can have a voice about our crumbling society. The society is crumbling in many ways because so many people don’t give a _____ about what is happening as long as it is not touching them.

It is almost over. Jesus is soon to come for those who are waiting for Him. The rest will have to enjoy the tribulation period and hope they can get it right during the thousand years of peace on earth.

Don’t be shy. Come join me expose and confront the issues your preacher won’t preach about. Let’s talk about the issues your favorite politician won’t discuss with you in private. Let’s shout about the truth to each other and the world.

· Why are more people becoming victims of AIDS that ever before in America?

· Why are more men killing their children and wives/girlfriends and then themselves than ever before?

· Why are more ministers involved in sexual liaisons than ever before?

· Why is America in this recession?

· Why do people confuse love with lust?

· Who said it was wrong to masturbate?

· Why do men practice the down-low?

· Why women become cougars?

· Do you know the sexual predators in your neighborhood?

· Are you a voyeur?

· Are you transvestite?

· Do you know the same-sex people in your family and do you treat them with love and respect?

These are just a few of the questions we will address going forward; notice I said we will address not answer. You have to make the call and know for yourself what is right and wrong. I believe we all have the ability to read and make choices based on the information available. The foundation from which we will discuss and explore truth will use the Holy Bible as our foundation and reference point.

Loren Due

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Categories : HIV and Aids, Holy Bible, Incest, Life, Lovers, Lust, Lust of the eye, Lust of the flesh, Mass Murder, Masturbation, Ministers, Murder, Panties, Peeping Tom, Perpetrator, Predators, Transvestite, Voyeurism, Women

Africa: The Struggle of Women And HIV And Aids

by drdue · Comments (0)

11 Jan

In September this year, my cousin Norman died of an HIV related infection. It was very wrong, not too surprising and painful news. Wrong because we live in the era of ARVs and no one need die of HIV related infections. Not surprising, because if you are living with HIV in Zimbabwe where there is an absolute collapse of the health system death is highly likely.

Public hospitals are closed, no medicines, private health care and medication too expensive, and besides you need over 200 days of daily queuing for cash to get a 30 day supply of ARVs. Painful, because I hadn’t spoken to him for months and the last time I spoke to him I was so angry with him and my anger had not yet subsided. Angry with him, because firstly I discover he is HIV positive. How can Norman, in his early 30s, well educated, intelligent and a switched on guy be HIV positive? He knew how you get it and how you can prevent yourself from getting it? Where did he slip up? How could he be so stupid!!?

Secondly, I discovered that Norman, after knowing his status, did not tell his wife (about 10 years his junior) and proceeded to have unprotected sex with her and thus infected her. I felt betrayed. How could he do this to his wife, someone else’s sister? How would he feel if some guy did this to me his sister? I thought he would always look out for me but by this he indicated otherwise. What would stop some guy from doing to me this that my brother did. How cruel I thought (Hutsinye chaizo!). This cruel man was my brother! Anyway, Norman’s young wife found living with Norman (whom she had to take care of during his bouts of sickness attacks) too painful, so she mustered courage and left him, illegally crossed over to South Africa to start a new life as an economic migrant worker where she can access drugs. During Norman’s funeral, our family discovered that Norman had secretly married another young woman in her early 20s whom he left pregnant. One more person he knowingly passed on the HIV virus to.

What kind of man does this? Norman was a great everyday guy, hard working, a loving brother and son. Clearly, it is the everyday guy who is part of the cycle that makes stopping the spread of HIV and limiting the devastation of AIDS difficult. The patriarchal nature of our societies, politics and economies continuously victimizes women and makes them vulnerable and susceptible to poverty, insecurity and infection with the HIV virus.

The magnitude and the consequences of HIV and AIDS in Africa have taught us that it is not only a health problem, it is also a governance and development problem. It is about States that are badly managed and whose interests do not address the needs and priorities of their populations. It is about patriarchal societies that refuse to transform themselves to their present realities and truths and rather draw on the past in the guise of culture and tradition to direct present and future contexts. Young men like Norman go about marrying and lording it over naïve and desperate women to all their peril. The two young girls became victims of society’s conspiracy against women which projects marriage as a woman’s ultimate moment of glory and so many get into it at any cost even if their lives are highly at risk as a consequence. We are killing our own young people across this continent!

The worst hit by the HIV virus are the peoples of Africa and because of poverty, conflict and geo political inequalities our continent is the most vulnerable. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), off the 33 million people living with the HIV virus world wide at the end of 2007, 22 million (two thirds) were Africa’s children. Of the 2 million who died in 2007, three quarters were in Africa and of the 2.7 million new infections in 2007, 70% were in Africa. These are facts African peoples and leaders have to wake up to. We cannot hold on to the beliefs and practices that landed us on this mess anymore. Things have to drastically change.

The 15 to 49 years age group which is our most productive age group is the most desecrated by this virus. When they get sick and/or die we loose their skills, experience and dent our economies. The 2005 Human Development Report identified AIDS as the factor inflicting the single greatest reversal in human development history. Between 1990 and 2003, many of the countries severely affected by AIDS dropped sharply in the global ranking of countries on the Human Development Index. For example South Africa fell by 35 places, Botswana by 21 places and Zambia by 16 places. Adult deaths place an especially high economic burden on societies. The loss of working-age adults represents a loss of human capital and has a profound effect on household economic well being. A cross-sectional study of the effects of adult mortality on small farmers engaged in cotton and maize production in Zambia found that an adult death resulted in a decline in crop output of roughly 15 percent. Experiences in most highly affected countries in SSA show that key skilled personnel particularly teachers, health workers, civil servants and artisans are most affected leaving skills gaps for the country negatively impacting economic growth and reversing development (SADC Secretariat 2008).

The gender discrimination in our societies has had dismal consequences for women and girls. Women have become the victims of our societal values not just as the infected but as having to bear the burden of the consequences HIV and AIDS. 59% of the adults with HIV and AIDS are women. For every 1 young man age range 15 – 24 years old there are 3 young women with HIV within the same age group. A UNDP report of 2003 showed how young girls in Zimbabwe were dropping out of school to take care of infected parents. So really, the AIDS virus is corroding women’s bodies, demands women’s time, energy, sanity, steals young girls’ childhood, future and innocence. These are results women and girls struggle with because our world still perpetuates social, economic, cultural and political systems that are grounded in patriarchy and thus dis-empower women, legitimate inequality and exclusion. This is why the regional protocols, the national laws, the policies that exists across the continent to address HIV and AIDS have not haltered its spread or cushioned the most vulnerable from its invasive and destructive impact. Norman was able to get away with infecting his two wives in a Zimbabwe that has a law which persecutes and punishes anyone who knowingly infects another with the HIV virus (the Sexual Offences Act 2002).

A comprehensive study was carried out by the Physicians for Human Rights called ‘Epidemic of inequality: women’s rights and HIV and AIDS (2007). The study focuses on Botswana and Swaziland the countries who have the highest prevalence rates in the world 23.9% and 26.1% respectively. Botswana was highest all along until 2004 when Swaziland overtook it. The study shows how entrenched societal gender discrimination perpetuates HIV and AIDS prevalence. Both countries until recently had legalized gender inequalities where women had a lesser status than men in the eyes of society and the law; restricted property rights, minimal inheritance and hardly any autonomy. I recall my shock during my first stay in Botswana in 2005, when I filled out the form to open a water account. The form clearly indicated that if a married woman is wanting to open a water account she must produce evidence of consent from her husband. Clearly gendered values, norms and practices make women extremely vulnerable and as a study carried out in Zambia expressly shows subjects them to risky sexual behavior (Human Rights Watch 2007). Where women are disempowered and viewed as less in society, they are most likely to suffer the most from stigma if their status is discovered and are likely unable to make decisions in regards to their sexuality. This increases risk to themselves and spreads the infection.

Gender based violence (GBV) or fear of is another societal evil women struggle with which exacerbates the risk to HIV infection and/or affects women’s access and adherence to treatment. 1 in 3 women in SSA has experienced some form of violence. 1 in 5 women has been coerced or forced into a sexual act. The Human Rights Study, ‘Hidden in the Mealie Meal: Gender Based Abuses and Women’s HIV Treatment in Zambia’ (2007) shows that 1 in every 2 women who have ever been married has experienced GBV and abuses in the hands of her husband. Violence against women is a social crime that has been perpetuated over generations and coupled with the HIV virus deals a double blow to many women and girls. Turning deaf ears and blind eyes to wife battering, abuse of the girl child and pretending there is no rape of a wife by her husband or of young girls by their fathers or brothers/uncles had put many women and girls at risk. Treated as ‘domestic issues’, governments have been reckless and are responsible for the pain, the broken limbs and destroyed lives of women and girls who have been victims of GBV. Further to this is the escalated use of rape as a weapon of war. Rape be it in the marital bed or under a shrub in a conflict zone is a crime of hate, is violent and seeks to rob the victim of her or his humanity. Women and girls in the DRC, Northern Uganda, Darfur, Zimbabwe just to name a few of the currently on-going conflicts have been subjected to the violence of rape as their bodies became battle grounds in a war between a few men. As an ACORD seminar report of March 2007 ‘Exposing Hidden War Crimes: Challenging Impunity for Sexual Violence in times of Conflict’ remarks that it is the silence on GBV in times of peace that legitimate SGBV in times of war.

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