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Understanding
the Importance of AIDS
Goal 2
Questions – The Importance of HIV/AIDS
After understanding the Basic Facts about HIV/AIDS, students and teachers discussed why HIV and AIDS is important in their schools, communities, countries and the world. Below are the questions they used to start the discussion:
- Does HIV affect men and women differently?
- What effect has AIDS had on the life expectancy in your country?
- What effect has HIV/AIDS had on your community's culture?
- What are the economic impacts of AIDS?
- Who is the most vulnerable to HIV?
- Why should someone be tested for HIV?
- What
should someone with HIV do to prolong their life?
How would YOU answer the questions?
Educational
Goal 2: What did students and teachers say about the importance of HIV/AIDS?
1) Does HIV/AIDS affect men and women differently?
Students and teachers had lots of different opinions about this question!
Participants in Uganda said that women are more at risk, because they can be raped and are more dependent upon men. However, women are seen to cause AIDS in some parts of Ugandan culture.
Students and teachers in Zimbabwe agreed with their Ugandan colleagues about women being more biologically and culturally vulnerable to HIV.
However, some participants had an interesting and perhaps DANGEROUS twist to this question, saying, “women cannot control themselves sexually once aroused”! What do you think? Can this be true? Or is this belief in itself one reason why we are having so much trouble preventing the spread of HIV? This statement gets to the heart of the issue of “gender” and HIV.
2) What effect has AIDS had on the life expectancy in your country?
Unfortunately,
the WorLD HIV/AIDS project asked this question without really explaining
what “life expectancy” is, that it’s a technical term that
tries to show how long a male or female in a particular country can expect
to live. It’s measured only for the year of someone’s birth.
See the Development Education Program's Life Expectancy Module:
http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/social/life/index.htm
Despite this, WorLD AIDS participants understood that AIDS is cutting life expectancy in many African countries, especially Southern Africa. This decline in life expectancy is especially sad because many of these countries had improved the health status of their populations, especially for children, before the onset of the AIDS epidemic.
3) What effect has HIV/AIDS had on your community’s culture?
This was a very interesting question because participants had a lot to contribute regarding their cultures.
UGANDA:
Many Ugandans felt that the most important impact of AIDS on their communities was the rise in numbers of orphans, street children, and widows. Another negative impact in Uganda is the fear of other people.
However, Ugandans also said that wife inheritance has gone down, and that their communities are more accepting of condoms. Also, there is less sharing of knives during circumcision ceremonies, and less polygamy as a result of AIDS.
ZIMBABWE:
Zimbabwean teachers and students also mentioned condoms-- and said commercial sex workers have been trying to use condoms as examples of important ways AIDS is impacting their communities.
Participants also said people now have more respect for faithfulness within marriage, but unfortunately there is less trust for each other. AIDS in Zimbabwe has also started a discussion of child abuse and sexuality, even youth sexuality.
SOUTH AFRICA:
Some South African participants said there is less casual sex in their country because of AIDS. Others said that the myth that only white people get AIDS has been dispelled– And AIDS is bringing cultures together because no culture is immune to HIV.
However, there have also been negative effects – people are less likely to help others in need, especially if they have been wounded. And, myths still exist, like the wrong idea that sex with a virgin cures AIDS, this has led to child abuse.
GHANA:
Ghanaian teachers and students also said that more people are using condoms in their communities, and there is reduced promiscuity as a result of AIDS. Others said that another positive outcome of AIDS is a call for a ban on female circumcision.
However, the problem of stigma in Ghana remains.
4) What are the economic impacts of HIV/AIDS?
Most participants have a good understanding of economic issues. These include:
- The labor force, both skilled and unskilled, is being reduced by AIDS
- Governments are spending scarce $ on imported drugs
- Families have to spend even scarcer resources caring for their sick
- AIDS is lowering the standard of living
- More $ for health is taking $ away from education
- Countries now have more dependents and fewer workers
- Street kids have become more numerous
- Medical aid and insurance plans are suffering
- Some companies may choose to invest less in human resources
5) Who is the most vulnerable to HIV?
Overall, students and teachers understand that youth and women are the most vulnerable to HIV transmission. But there is less understanding that orphans are just as vulnerable.
In Ghana, some people still see HIV/AIDS as an “outsider’s” disease, brought in by people who travel outside the country.
In South Africa, truck drivers and migrant workers are rightly seen as being as vulnerable as their sexual behavior makes them.
6) Why should someone be tested for HIV?
This was an interesting question with interesting responses. Some students’ and teachers’ responses showed that stigma and judgement against people with HIV/AIDS still exist among WorLD participants. Here are some answers for why people should be tested:
- Before getting married, for family planning purposes
- To help authorities with statistics
- To learn how to live positively and prevent HIV transmission
- Before getting a job or traveling
- To prevent mother-to-child transmission
- People with HIV/AIDS can share their experiences
- Which of these reasons do you agree with?
Interestingly, not one participant said that it is good to be tested so that they could plan for their family’s future. The WorLD HIV/AIDS Coordinator would argue that one of the most important reasons for knowing one’s HIV status, besides living positively for oneself, is to plan for the care of one’s children, and to write a Will for the passing down of one’s property--to extend one’s life, yes, but also to take an active part in planning for eventual death, so that instructions are given before death and not left to relatives afterward.
7) What should someone with HIV do to prolong life?
Some good suggestions:
- Avoid alcohol and cigarettes
- Avoid passing HIV to a baby, either through family planning or the use of anti-----HIV drugs during pregnancy
- Sticking to one partner and practicing safe sex
- Eating well
- Treating Opportunistic Infections
- Joining a Support Group
- Exercising regularly
- Getting enough rest
- Sharing information and experiences with others
