UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

April 1, 2008

Leading by Example: HIV-Positive Man Encourages Males to Test and plays a role in HIV prevention

Between March 2 and 13, UNICEF partnered with the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA) and the American Peace Corp Volunteers to organize a 200 kilometer walk across Swaziland to raise awareness on HIV and AIDS.

Although I was not able to participate fully in the walk, I had a chance to talk to one of the full-time walkers, 63-year-old Andreas Simelane, who is HIV positive. Andreas had this to say: “Anyone who stands up to test themselves and know their HIV status is a hero,” he said. “This disease is killing our country and the people who have the courage to be tested are heroes. I only wish there were more of them, especially men.”

Andreas got tested a few years ago; he has been open about his HIV-positive status since the day he received his results. Andreas shared the test’s findings with his wife and told her she must also go for an HIV test. She wasn’t sick at the time, and despite finding out that she is also positive, she has not suffered any illnesses yet.

“I joined this walk to show that I am HIV-positive but I am strong,” said Andreas. ”I was the oldest person on the walk but I wanted to show people of my age, and other men, that they should stand up and fight this disease in order to protect their wives and children.”

Andreas recently completed Swaziland’s “Walk the Nation” campaign to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. The walk featured education and entertainment stops along the route that touched the lives of nearly 7,000 people by teaching them about HIV prevention and offering HIV-testing.

Echoing Andreas’ words, UNICEF is also encouraging men to play a greater role in HIV prevention. Community mobilization programmes promote the participation of men in the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV (PMTCT) by promoting the HIV-testing of men. This is done by using a live drama or a film with messages focusing on PMTCT and on paediatric AIDS care. The film highlights key issues around prevention and the care of HIV-infected women and children using local dialects and the local cultural context.

Discussions after the film showed that men were very willing to discuss HIV and AIDS issues and expressed the need to be well informed on HIV-prevention interventions to prevent HIV in their families. Strategic data collected in six rural clinics which were mobilized for PMTCT services, showed that there was an overall increase in the number of clients accepting HIV-testing, including men.

One of UNICEF Swaziland’s key priorities is to scale up PMTCT to reach more communities by mobilising more resources. I sincerely believe that if men were to take the lead in issues of HIV and AIDS, it would be of great benefit to Swazi children.