Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
networks to absorb and utilise this aid effectively in the short and medium terms.
Donor communities should be encouraged to work not only with local and national
governmental bodies in these countries, but also with the many local networks and
organisations that work at ground level to deliver HIv/aIDS-related programmes.
Governments and, increasingly more importantly, nGos and religious and
community-based organisations have important links with local communities. these
allow them to play a vital role in any successful HIv/aIDS prevention and treatment
programme, due to their credibility among local communities.
Seventh, despite the progress that has been made on the ground to provide
affordable treatment to HIv-positive people in the region in recent years, the majority
of carriers of the disease are still not receiving treatment. according to the world
bank (2008), only one in six (17 percent) of all HIv-positive patients are receiving
art. In addition, government campaigns designed to prevent new infections from
taking place, including campaigns organised to support safe sex education, are in
many instances ineffective or undermined by technical, operational, or funding
deficiencies. Any international or indigenous effort designed to stem the tide of the
virus in the region needs to take such realities into consideration and look at ways to
boost local capacity and resources.
eighth, although increasing funding from donor communities is always welcomed
and needed to support the many initiatives in place to tackle the HIv/aIDS epidemic
in southern africa, more consideration ought to be given to the brain drain of
medical doctors and nurses working in the health service sector in the region who
are lured to greener pastures in the west. attracted by higher salaries, the prospects
of a better life, and better working conditions, large numbers of medical staff have
left southern africa to work and settle permanently in the west. Strategies should be
put in place with the assistance of western governments to limit the intake of medical
practitioners from the region and offer incentives, such as allowances for working
in rural areas or for having scarce skills in order to help retain these resources to
support their governments' initiatives to prolong the lives of HIv-positive patients
and prevent new infections from taking place.
ninth, southern african states should be encouraged to tackle the all important
issue of reducing the stigma and discrimination faced by many HIv-positive people
in the region. Sadly, these attitudes hinder effective responses to efforts at tackling
HIv/aIDS over the long term. often, many people engaging in high-risk activities
such as engaging in unprotected sex and sharing injection needles hesitate to be tested
for HIv and to seek treatment for fear of backlash from their communities, families,
and co-workers. Governments and nGos working in the region should focus more
on dispelling fallacies regarding the disease and emphasise the need for periodic
testing as a way to raise awareness and understanding among the general public.
tenth, safe male circumcision should be encouraged by the public health sector
in the region, following recent studies by the wHo and UnaIDS. these indicate
that this practice could help reduce the transmission of HIv via heterosexual sex.
However, male circumcision on its own is not enough. It must be accompanied by
safe sex practices.
 
 
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