But cultures don’t do bad things, people do. People do things they shouldn’t all the time. So these people should just pay for their medical care like, like who? I have never paid more than $50 (at the time, 10 hours of work) for any medical procedure in my life. Usually I pay $10.
Only if bad old whore-chasing dad dies, then mom and the children have to replace that lost income somehow. How are they going to do that?
It is useless to argue or debate with someone who is making such simplistic, mindless comments. He’s speaking out of anger and frustration and so his rant is senseless.
“Culture” is not a simple thing. There isn’t any culture anywhere, that I know of, that doesn’t promote and encourage some behaviours that are harmful to themselves and sometimes others. I don’t think there is even an individual human being who is completely rational when it comes to health behavior. We know what we SHOULD be eating, but few of us follow our own advice. We all know about exercise, smoking, drinking and driving. And then there is sexual behavior… whole nother ball game. But knowing the best choice and being able to consistently act on it are two very different things for most people, regardless of what culture they come from.
And it is always far easier to suggest that we let people die when they are not our family and friends, and especially if they are far away. The fact is that people in our country, who know everything about HIV and have all the resources they need to prevent infection, are still becoming infected at alarming rates. In some cases, they are lying to their new partners about their status and infecting their partners, too. Not gonna stop anytime soon.
Er, well no, I was stalking about circumcision
I live in Cameroon. I havn’t been here long and I am no AIDS expert, but I can tell you what I’ve seen. Cameroon doesn’t have an astonishingly high AIDS rate, but it’s still high compared to America. And of course each country- and even each region in a country- is very different. But hopefully I have something to share.
First off, AIDS is a different disease here. People die all the time. Death is a part of everyday life here. The life expectancy is 50. You NEVER see people with gray hair. People are shocked that my grand parents are alive. It’s not a place where people expect to live long.
And there are many, many, many diseases that kill people far more often and far more painfully than AIDS. So while AIDS is still worrying, it’s just not the biggest worry out there. Everyone is aware of AIDS and how it is spread, but given that it takes a while to kill you and there are plenty of things out there that will kill you RIGHT NOW, it doesn’t get as much attention as we give it in the US.
As for the culture- it is a factor. And it’s not just going to go away. Kids have sex young. And you can’t blame them- they die young. There is no expectation of fidelity, and AIDS aside this isn’t a horrible situation for the wife. It’s just a more relaxed culture about these things and for the most part people are happy and comfortable with this. There is also polygymy, which for the most part works out but does complicate AIDS transmission. Fidelity is great, but four wives isn’t any better than four mistresses.
What is the answer? Stigma is a big problem here. People don’t want to be tested. but are likely to act responsibly if they do know their AIDS status. Access to testing and treatment is also very poor in rural areas. And finally, health all around needs to be worked on. Malaria, cholera, TB and stuff like that kills all kinds of people. For example, breastfeeding women with AIDS are advised to continue breastfeeding their children despite the risk of transmission, because it’s much more dangerous to use formula mixed with the water. A lot of this kind of thing needs to be adressed before AIDS takes center stage.
Agreed; it is the anger and frustration talking; I’ll go away now.
Now there’s the stuff of nightmares for some guys; stalking for circumcision.
Thank you for your background on Cameroon, Sven. I have a friend who was in the Peace Corps there. What are you doing there?
Bwana, don’t worry, I know the anger and frustration. I’ve been working in HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. When I see very young patients coming into our clinic newly infected and also regular HIV patients coming in repeatedly with other STDs (and wonder what who they might have infected at the same time), I really want to scream.
Oops, that was a Freudian snip
Out of curiousity, roughly where do you work.
Aren’t these the same people who think having sex with a child virgin will rid them of the virus?
The culture change will be a long time coming. The situation is close to hopeless. From what I’ve seen regarding the AIDS pandemic in Africa, I don’t see a meaningful turnaround happening until a vaccine is developed.
I don’t know. Aren’t Americans the people who believe that Kennedy was murdered by the CIA?
Not quite sure what that has to do with the topic at hand.
I was involved in setting up and conducting HIV testing when it was first available, a variety of volunteer positions in an AIDS services agency, testing, contact tracing and partner notification in a regional public health clinic, HIV/STD health education here and in the Caribbean, HIV/AIDS epidemiologist in the US and then in the eastern Caribbean, and now doing HIV clinical research (testing new therapies) in an HIV clinic in the US.
Not so much the topic at hand as your question.
Sorry, I should be clearer. If you’re question begins, “Aren’t these the people who…” then your answer is no. Unless it’s “Aren’t these the people who live in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
I was referring to the fact that it’s rather difficult to teach old dogs new tricks when they still belive in hocus-pocus and voodoo. The educational process with regard to AIDS in Africa is an uphill battle. At any rate, it was on topic; your comment wasn’t.
My question was on point once you asked yours, which was rather stupid and fairly insulting. The point of my response was that “they” are no more inclined to believe in “hocus-pocus” and vodoo than you are. And by the way, get it straight: African animists believe in Mumbo-Jumbo. Roman Catholics believe in Hocus-Pocus.
Actually, they are more inclined to believe it than I am. http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2002/april/virgin.htm
Child Rape in South Africa
My rhetorical question was neither stupid nor insulting. It was factual. Your response, however STILL has no relevance to the discussion.
One of your links requires registration, and the other talks specifically about the situation in South Africa, which is rather infamous for bungling it’s approach to fighting AIDS. In your original comment, you were apparently refering to the entire continent, instead of just the Southernmost tip of it. So your original comment remains a broad, unsupported generalization, or more harshly, “stupid and insulting,” as highlighted by saoirse’s satirical reply.
It’s not unsupported, and my link did not refer to only South Africa. While it apparently occurs in higher numbers in South Africa, it is by no means the only place it’s happening.
From the first link:
The second link (which does not require registration when you google it) does concentrate specifically on South Africa, but so what? It happens to be the most glaring example of the problem, so I used it.
From the second link:
The gist of my statement, which you apparently missed, is that in places where men hold all the power, and believe in mystical cures for disease, the concepts of fidelity and protected sex are probably not going to have much of an impact.
It is not helped by the Catholic Church sloshing money around and telling people not to wear condoms.
http://www.abstinenceafrica.com/library/index.php?entryid=2161
This rather curious cite describes the Ugandan President doing an about face and /advocating/ condoms ‘at the closing of a Catholic conference’
Then it goes on to say:
|In December, 2004, Ugandan First Lady, Janet Museveni excoriated such organizations for their insistence on the ‘safe-sex’ dogma. In January 2004, Mrs. Museveni told the young people of Uganda that they should not listen to those pushing free sex and condoms. |
I think President Museveni might have got a severe earbashing from his good lady, I’ve heard a number of times that she had her snout in the Catholic collection plate.
I’d heard she had her snout under the cassock, but to each his own slander.
So the answer is, no, they are not the people who believe that. Apparently we are.