Memoirs of a common man-Another Aids commemoration is here once again
by STANLEY KENANI - Sunday, November 30, 2008 - 15:07:08

When the New York Times announced in 1982 that the disease that made people grow thin was to be called the Acquired Immuno-deficiency syndrome, it sounded so far away from us here in Malawi. It was like any of America’s problems, just like malaria was our problem here. If you talked about dangerous sexually transmitted diseases then, we had chizonono and chindoko, or gonorrhea and syphilis. The comfort at that time was that at least gonorrhea and syphilis were curable.

In 1983, two French doctors, Françoise Barrė-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier discovered that that the Human-Immuno Virus (HIV) caused AIDS.

Well, we did not have to wait long.

The first patient was diagnosed at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre in 1985. Now, 23 years later, the victims of the killer-disease have multiplied by millions. Many hundreds so far have died – and we are still counting.

Any hope yet?

Numerous reports come and go, reports about possible findings of a cure or a vaccine. But it is all like chasing the wind. We are not succeeding. People have preached now and again about several ways. In many parts of Africa, there is the ABC campaign: Abstain, Be faithful and Condom.

That’s the way to go.

We have lost the battle but we should not lose the war. We must never say never. We need to continue the fight, continue the campaign and move on. We had an HIV Testing Week a few weeks ago. By media accounts, it was a success, except for the Mangochi district where fewer people than expected turned up.

The National Aids Commission (NAC) needs to be commended for the flat-out fight it is leading against the pandemic. Other organizations such as the Malawi Counseling and Resource Organization, MANET, NAPHAM and many others I cannot manage to mention by name, need to be commended too. There are the community-based organizations as well. They are doing a very good job. We need to try everything and anything to win this war.

Maybe some may be surprised about the AIDS talk. Monday, December 1, is World AIDS day. Let us sit down and remember the havoc this beast has caused. Let us bang heads and come up with new ideas of tackling the problem. Only then shall we win this war. We must fight and fight hard. We must never lean on our laurels.

One day, I look forward to not commemorating another World AIDS day. We will only do that if we win the war.

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