SUDAN: Poor services, ignorance hamper HIV/AIDS fight in south

Bentiu, 22 August 2006 (PlusNews) - There are no HIV testing and counselling centres in Bentiu, the main town in southern Sudan's oil-rich Unity State, and statistics are scarce, but that does not mean the disease does not exist.

"I had never known that I was HIV-positive [until] I was admitted just a week ago, when my sickness intensified," said John Jal, 23, (not his real name). "I had been under treatment for TB [tuberculosis]."

Jal has started taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs provided by international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), at the only clinic offering the medication in Bentiu, which has a population of about 100,000, according to the United Nations Mission in Sudan.

"We have had eight [HIV-positive] patients - three of them died and five are still on the programme," Paul Mabany, a health worker with MSF, told IRIN. "The only problem we have is that patients come when they have already been sick for long time, so they cannot tolerate the side effects coming with the drugs."

HIV/AIDS is shrouded in ignorance and myth. Unity State health minister Kuong Ruach commented that "AIDS is a private thing", and people did not discuss it.

Stigma is rife in the region. Angelina Nyaket, who has two children and sells tea from a stall in Bentiu, felt that "I can be angry with somebody who has it [HIV/AIDS], and my opinion is that such a person should be excommunicated", but did not know how the disease was contracted.

A 2005 survey by the Sudanese National AIDS Control Programme and UN agencies found that less than 10 percent of Sudanese youth knew how to prevent HIV or what a condom was.

Health agencies operating in the area say it is difficult to raise awareness of the pandemic without an explicit directive and government support. MSF provides treatment but does not have counsellors trained to offer advice on prevention, treatment and care.

Ruach acknowledged the urgent need for more information and government involvement. "We are planning a three-day workshop when we shall invite the south Sudan health sector and other health agencies. We shall call it 'Health Awareness Day' - that is when we shall develop strategies on how to handle HIV/AIDS."

He was upbeat about the results. "Once this campaign is launched, people will be allowed to talk about it openly. Some can even go as far as knocking on doors to make people aware about HIV, and posters against HIV will be everywhere."

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]