UNICEF: Somalia Has Unique Chance to Halt AIDS

[Gabbal]

UNICEF: Somalia Has Unique Chance to Halt AIDS

Wed September 24, 2003 12:35 PM ET

 

By James Macharia

NAIROBI (Reuters) - War-torn Somalia has one of the lowest AIDS infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa and has a unique chance to prevent the disease from spreading, unlike its hard-hit neighbors, a UNICEF official said on Wednesday.

 

Jesper Morc, who represents the U.N. children's agency in Somalia, said Senegal, which has a prevalence rate of less than 2 percent, and Somalia are the only sub-Saharan countries with a low AIDS rate. Somalia's rate is estimated at 0.9-2.0 percent.

 

"It would be criminal to let this opportunity pass by," he told Reuters, adding that UNICEF hoped to carry out a prevalence study in the Horn of Africa country within four months and would like to see an AIDS prevention program launched there.

 

"It is...crucial and urgent to put in place a coordinated and strategic early-response program to stop the epidemic from spreading," he said.

 

The United Nations AIDS agency says 29.4 million of the 42 million people infected with HIV worldwide are in Africa.

 

Morc said an AIDS infection rate below three percent was considered manageable, 3-5 percent was serious and above five percent was deemed rampant. He said most African countries had AIDS prevalence rates of above five percent.

 

He said a full-blown AIDS epidemic would be catastrophic to Somalia and seriously hamper any efforts toward nation-building and a return of peace. Somalia's several warring factions are holding shaky peace talks in Nairobi.

 

Somalia disintegrated into anarchy after former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, as clans launched battles for territory amid famine and political turmoil.

 

In a paper he presented at the 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), Morc said Senegal -- predominantly Muslim like Somalia -- offered a good example of how religious leaders helped spread awareness of how to curb the disease.

 

"There is no question the religious leaders had a role in helping to keep AIDS at bay," he said.

 

He said a crucial factor in the success of an anti-AIDS program in Somalia was preventing its spread among young people, voluntary testing and counseling and provision of cheap antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for AIDS victims.

 

"We could lobby for free ARVs because Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and also because the numbers of those infected are still very low," Morc said, adding sustained funding by donors would be crucial to the effort.

 

But Morc said the ongoing conflict there and high cross border and internal population movements would pose challenges to efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS.

[Bachelor]

Thanks Horn. Such a fantastic news make a nomad proude and we need more healty news in a political field.

 

"There is no question the religious leaders had a role in helping to keep AIDS at bay," he said.

Lets give them a chance for the poltical side as well, so they deliver the change we been craving for.