Want to Kick Out Malaria? Then Walk the Talk; Fight Poverty First

« KO! KO! KO! », shouted the crowd .Mind you, they weren’t participating in a boxing match, neither were they at a musical concert, they shouted KO! in response to the health officials that took turns in sensitizing the crowd of more than 5000 that gathered at the Douala Place du Gouvernement to participate in the 9KM sensitization Walk that was organized by the Cameroon’s Coalition of Businesses for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and better known by its French acronym CCATSIDA, Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health, and other stakeholders (local and international) in the fight against Malaria this Saturday 20^th April 2013.

Being a participant, I could not help but be marveled at how engaged fellow participants were as we criss-crossed the streets of Cameroon’s most populated town. Young and old, and from diverse horizons, one thing united this people; that Malaria be kicked Out of Cameroon.

 This passion and demonstrated in the endurance of the participants all through the alertness of their  footsteps and the smile on their faces, could not however stop me from asking myself fundamental questions around the strategy for the fight against Malaria in my country. Thus, when  one of the thousands of spectators that had  amassed  at  streets corners shouted, “Where are condoms?”, there was  an outburst of laughter from the crowd, I began asking myself  what might have prompted this spectator to ask the question he did. As I thought about this, my eyes fell on the logo of the Cameroonian Coalition of Businesses for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and on the T-Shirt of the participant ahead of me, my answer was here. The words AIDS on this coalitions logo prompted the question from this spectator.

AIDS and its prevention methods are better known in Cameroon than Malaria and its means of protection.  This is paradoxical given that Malaria kills in Cameroon and Sub-Saharan Africa than HIV/AIDS. Mind you, I am in no way saying that resources (human and material) should be shifted from the fight against HIV/AIDS, which is causing havoc in Cameroon especially amongst youths, to the fight against Malaria. The point I am trying to make is that the fight against Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis has for long been done as though they were isolated.

It is true that a person that has Malaria  or Tuberculosis is not automatically an HIV/AIDS patient, but  most often people suffering from HIV/AIDS in Cameroon are  victims of the  Malaria and tuberculosis given the milieu in which they live and  the little means they have to survive on.

I have for long being convinced that an effective fight against Malaria cannot be done in an isolated manner but must be inclusive; taking into consideration the vectors of the disease in various communities in Cameroon. A dirty environment provides good breeding grounds for Mosquitoes especially the female Anopheles mosquito, through which Malaria is spread, the fight against Malaria must start from there. If a clean environment is achieved through mechanism through efficient urban development and poverty reduction strategies, Malaria will be made history. After all, isn’t it common knowledge that prevention is better than Cure?

In Cameroon and I guess is the case elsewhere in the world, a change from a dirty and crowded environment to a cleaner environment is the main indicator that a person has emerged from poverty. This is so because people who could barely afford 3 meals a day will have little time to think about the environments in which they live talk less of women in this bracket going for prenatal consultation or even having time to take their infants to the hospital when they are sick. Thus, despite the bed-nets distribution campaigns that  have been organized all over Cameroon and despite the fact that  Malaria treatment is free for  children and pregnant women  in Cameroon, Malaria killed more than 3000 people most of whom children.

Without an efficient attack on poverty, which is fertile ground for poor living conditions, I am afraid our walk and much talk on the fight against Malaria will be in vain. For Malaria to be kicked out of this country, we must not only walk on occasions like those organized  to mark the World day for the fight against Malaria, we must truly walk the talk on the fight against Malaria daily, by  launching an immediate assault and poverty. Because Malaria is the consequence of a dirty environment which is its self a glaring consequence of poverty.

If Poverty Had a Name

‘If Poverty had a name, it will be called Tansa Rose’, commented in a melancholic mood a reporter of Cameroon’s public Radio (CRTV). Tansa Rose is this 35 year old woman who died while giving birth to 4 babies in Kumba-a populous city in the South Western Region of Cameroon-recently. As shocking as this news is, it is common place in Cameroon to hear of women dying while giving birth so much so that nobody is surprised that in the 21st century; 3 years to the so much talked about 2015 dateline for the achievement of the millennium development Goals(MDGs) and not too far from 2035-the year Cameroon dreams of becoming an emerging nation.
In Cameroon, far from being neglected, Maternal Health has been at the heart of politicians’ manifestos and development policy documents. But the importance of maternal health has never been translated into concrete actions by these politicians once elected into office. After all, which Cameroonian will not remember the famous “Health for all in the year 2000 “slogan and the now ever present “emergence by 2035” argument?
One will never really know how sincere those politicians and policy makers that created such lofty slogans as those above were but one thing one can be certain of is the fact that women like Tansa Rose die while giving birth at home because they are too poor to get prenatal and postnatal care.
Tansa Rose as 1/3 of women in developing nations was the sole bread winner for her family and her children like all those whose mothers die while giving birth to them are 3-10 times likely to die before their second birthday than those whose mothers survive according to the UN in its We Can End Poverty 2015 report and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) State of the World’s Children 2007. This coupled with the uncertainty of what the future holds for late Rose’s babies in terms of health, education, and opportunity for them to live worthy lives revolts me as while precious resources are being invested in white elephant projects that are doomed to failure, thousands of Cameroonians continue to die because they cannot afford the services of health care professionals or stay in remote areas with the nearest health facility hundreds of miles away. This is shameful and must be change if Cameroon is to ever become the emerging country it so much dreams of becoming because a nation whose women and children plagued by ills of all sorts cannot achieve any development worth its name.
Access to health care for men, women, and children of a nation’s present and future generations must be at the heart of any nation’s development policies. For, “People are dying unnecessarily because they do not have clean water, enough good food, or basic medical care-which is what economic development means for us. The most basic human right of all is the right to life itself, and a life which is not made miserable by hunger, ignorance, or preventable disease”, argued Julius Nyerere in his Plea of the Poor to the world.

Incest: The Ugly Face of a Rising Evil Practice

A 24 year old suing her father. This is a very rare phenomenon in Cameroon which has a culture which makes it taboo for the dirty linens of the family to be washed public. Even more rare is when it is a young girl suing her father and for an atrocious practice which though seen as such by a majority of people in this part of the world is growing in intensity because of inaction on the part of society, guilt and shame on the part of the victims and, desire by most stakeholders not to tarnish the family’s image.
But Elsa II Jacqueline Nyatè, a 24 year old who has been victim of a victim of incest for more than 10 years now took the bold step and sued her father for rape, sexual violence, and incest. Her father, a man whose appetite for his children seems to be unquenchable now sleeps in the same room with Vanessa’s 15 year old kid sister whom Vanessa is more than convinced is Being subjected to rape and repeated assaults by their divorced father. It is conscious of the effects her 10 years ordeal now has on her and what these effects could be on her kid sister that Vanessa has decided to speak out on this rising evil.
The Cambridge Advanced Learners dictionary describes incest as: a sexual activity involving people who are closely related and not to legally permitted to marry. In Cameroon, just as is the case with most societies in our world, incest is a forbidden practice and feelings of guilt, shame, unworthiness, and other post traumatic disorders abound among rape and incest victims.
A study recently carried out by an NGO, Réseau National des Tantines (RENATA), indicates about 10% of unmarried mothers had their pregnancy or an incestuous relationship. Shocking as these figures may be, they are very insignificant compared to the reality as the number of undocumented cases and silent victims far out-number those who are speaking out. More shocking to me is not the incestuous act itself but the violence the victims, who are often daughters, sisters, cousins, and nieces of the perpetrators of acts of incest has to go through-they are molested, beaten, and subjected to all sorts of harsh conditions which will contribute in keeping secret the incestuous relationship
But things are fast changing and need to change even further because despite the taboo surrounding the making public by victims of this demeaning and senseless act, rarely does a day go-by in Cameroon without people in one of its major towns being informed of a victim of incest coming out to denounce the incestuous family member. That the rate at which victims of incest are speaking out is rising is good news. But I am convinced that, though, a necessary step this alone is sufficient. The fact that mothers most victims of incest whom I have known keep a blind eye or helplessly watch their husbands ruining their child’s future pains me so much, the delay in the rendering judgment in cases of incest makes me wonder why the judicial system should exist if it has to cover up perpetrators of hideous acts.
Elsa has knowingly or unknowingly through this heroic act in my opinion become the symbol of the rising rebellion against this rising evil practice-incest-which has long lasting physical and psychological effects on the victims. But we all as a society have to act by denouncing perpetrators of this evil practice and demanding justice for their victims. It’s our duty to spare the children in and around us of this abuse. Together, and only together can we overcome incest in our society.

Survival on Lies: Do People Living With HIV/AIDS have to lie on their Serological Status to avoid Stigma?

A few weeks back  I listened attentively to ‘SOS Doctor’, one of the best health programs that be on Radio in Cameroon. As I listened, I got very happy at the great job that Dr. Dion Grace, a member of the National AIDS Control Committee of Cameroon was doing to educate Cameroonians on anti-retroviral drugs. She eloquently and insightfully answered every one of the questions that were posed to her by listeners who called-in and am sure her intervention in the program was a timely one. Everything was fine until when a listener called-in to ask what is it that could be done to reduce stigma on people who are on anti-retroviral drugs. Dr. Dion as usual gave a very insightful answer to this question going as far as citing the example of Ivory Coast where the drugs are put in anonymous packages so that they can be taken by patients without fear of stigma by the people around them. She went ahead to cite cases where some special containers of various doses is been used in some countries to reduce stigma. This was quiet interesting to know, but when she started advising people on anti-retroviral that they could tell people around them that they are taking vitamins or pills in order to avoid stigmatization I grumbled the following to myself: Do I have to be so ashamed of my status that I have to lie to others?

I have no statistics on this but I can assure you that having to lie on your HIV status is the order of the day in Cameroon especially amongst young people to avoid stigma and discrimination.  Well, this to an extend is understandable given that People Living With  HIV/AIDS(PLWHA)  are considered as being punished by God for either their sisns or those committed by their family. But when telling a lie to avoid stigma is a behaviour that is reinforced health professionals, I have reservations and clearly doubt how efficient this approach could be.

I am utterly convinced that a problem can only be solved if its root cause(s) is/are carefully tackled. As a young person living in a society where most PLWHA are young persons, I compare telling a lie on your HIV/AIDS status to survive to deliberately refusing to tackle the problem from it’s source and launching an attack on its leaves instead. 

"1200 000 People Died of AIDS in Africa in 2011. Millions of  these deaths being avoidable", says this bill board, at the heart of Douala-Cameroon' most populated city

 

 To reduce stigma in the most sustainable way possible, education rather than lies is required.Young  People, their families, and the communities in which People on anti-retroviral drugs have to be educated on the dangers of stigma and on the importance of accepting PLWHA. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations’ Secretary-General,  vividly spelt out society’s responsibility to PLWHA when he declared that,  “We can fight stigma. Enlightened laws and policies are key. But it begins with openness, the courage to speak out. Schools should teach respect and understanding. Religious leaders should preach tolerance. The media should condemn prejudice and use its influence to advance social change, from securing legal protections to ensuring access to health care."

 

Lies do nothing but contribute in amplifying the myth around HIV/AIDS in the Cameroonian society. People on anti-retroviral drugs do not need to lie on their status to survive stigma, they need to accept themselves as they are and deserve the care and protection that every other human being is due by the society in which they live.They deserve to live a real life and not a life of lies.