Media highlights army’s fight against HIV/AIDS
23 September 2005 | The Media and HIV/AIDS | Statistics and Research
Although South African soldiers may not be at war, they are still in the firing line when it comes to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
South African Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George was quoted in an Associated Press (AP) article this week as saying at a conference that 23 percent of the South African National Defence Force's (SANDF) 75000 members are infected.
“Members of the armed forces are in many ways at the coal face (forefront) of the HIV and AIDS epidemic,” George was reported as saying in Cape Town.
A similar AP story on the same topic published by IOL noted that seven out of every 10 military deaths are AIDS-related, according to figures presented by lawmakers in 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
The trend is similar in other African countries. In Uganda AIDS is the biggest killer, said a Ugandan military doctor and conference delegate. The article also noted instances of AIDS-related illnesses and deaths of African Union peacekeeping troops in the Sudan and Sierra Leone.
Now the US has decided to step in and help. In yet another spin on the same story by the AP, a USA TODAYarticle published on 20 September states that South Africa has been involved in a clinical research program, in partnership with the United States, to investigate how best to manage the virus in the military setting and provide treatment to those infected.
Another AP article published by News24 in June reported that about 1000 soldiers and their dependants, including 56 children, are taking ARVs under a US-funded program, that also provides for research into the life-prolonging impact of the drugs.
The US government has provided $50-million for the next five years under “Project Phidisa” (“Prolong Life”) to the South African military under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which aims to fund ARVs for 500,000 South Africans by 2008.
National Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota was quoted in an I-Net Bridge article published on Mail and Guardian about the ramifications of HIV/AIDS in the army.
“If one or two members of the army platoon, for example, cannot deploy due to an ailment, they must then be replaced by members from the other unit who did not train together and are not well known to members of that particular unit.”
Lekota added that if this happened for instance within the leader element, or with members in key positions, it could be even more disruptive and a challenge to manage.
Whether or not the army is able to deal with the current crisis will depend in the long run to an extent on the success of Project Phidisa, which amongst the mayhem, is proving to be a friend behind enemy lines for almost 2,000 SANDF soldiers.
This initiative is what has been keeping SANDF soldier Andries Nhlengethwa healthy for the past six years. SAPA- AP reports that 31-year old Pvt Andries Nhlengethwa, who jumps from planes and lifts 100-pound weights, is also HIV-positive.
The parachutist and bodybuilder is one of few soldiers living openly with HIV. His openness has apparently prompted other soldiers to get tested and seek treatment, which is freely available to military staff through the US-funded research program. Imagine the rewards of this program after five years: hopefully more soldiers will be willing to be tested and enrol for ARV treatment when they test positive, which means less people having to die needlessly.
Not only has the SANDF faced the AIDS crisis head on in this case, but they are also making a statement to the rest of the world that asking for help when it's due is not shameful. This push in the right direction is a plus especially when it seems that the rest of Africa is relying on us to deploy its future demand for peacekeeping forces.
Well done to the media for the recent spate of stories highlighting something positive in the area of HIV/AIDS, though the army must provide rich pickings for more critical analysis in its response (or lack thereof) to the pandemic in other ways. Write-ups of conferences and stories generated from press releases are easy. Much harder is thorough investigation. –Lunga Madlala
