Nominate your 2014 PEPFAR Champion

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

 

The Presidents Emergency Planfor AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Champions contest is back!

Focus of the contest this year will be on people who have gone the extra mile to promote equal access to quality HIV services for all Zambians.

"Information and interventions for HIV prevention and risk reduction remain unavailable for some marginalized groups in Zambia, such as persons with disabilities, sex workers, and prisoners.

 

We could like to honor Champions who support PEPFAR’s public health approach by striving to reach the thousands of Zambians who are not able to access HIV services, “ says PEPFAR Development Outreach and Communications Specialist, Kathryn Koonce.

2013 PEPFAR CHAMPIONS RECIEPIENTS

Last year, 12 champions were crowned at the inaugural PEPFAR Champions Award Ceremony held at the luxurious Radisson Blu Hotel. 

 

Among the recipients were; Colonel Daka, a Commanding Officer at Zambia National Service Camp in Kitwe. He is one of the first military officers to openly discuss his HIV status and currently  promotes counselling and testing among his troops.

Sister Mariola Mierzejewska, sister-in-charge of Kasisi Children's Home. She and her staff are currently providing care and support to 250 orphans and vulnerable children, 60 of whom are living with HIV.

His Royal Highness Chief Eshiloni Mumena from North-Western province, a powerful advocate of Voluntary MaleMedical Circumcision (VMMC).  In 2011 and at age 47, he underwent circumcision. Since his procedure, he now actively promotes the practice through out Zambia and in other Southern African countries.

Renowned doctor, Mannasseh Phiri, one of Zambia's leading and outspoken HIV andAIDS activists. Apart from being a columnist and hosting  a radio show which tackles the complexities surrounding the disease, he addresses issues head on related to homosexuality, sex workers and gender based violence.

Each champion was featured in a PEPFAR Zambia 2014 Calendar in addition to receiving a $1, 000 to donate to a local organization or community group of their choice.

This year, to nominate your PEPFAR Zambia Champion, submit a written explanation of how the nominee is working towards equal and universal access to HIV services by email to PEPFARZambia@state.gov or by mail to PEPFAR Coordination Office, RE: PEPFAR Hero Award, American Embassy, Ibex Hill, P.O. Box 31617, Lusaka, Zambia.

Include specific information about how your champion is promoting equal access to quality HIV services for all Zambians including their work, success, and relevant background information. Please also include 2-3 high quality photos that demonstrate the impact they are making.

The deadline is September 19, 2014.

Champions will receive a cash prize for the community-based organization of their choice, will be featured in a PEPFAR Champions 2015 calendar, and will be honored at an event in Lusaka around World AIDS Day, December 1, 2014. PYM

DRW: Judicial System insensitive to mentally disabled persons

By Meluse Kapatamoyo

The Disability Rights Watch (DRW) has called on government to ensure that persons with mental disabilities are adequately represented in the courts to avoid them being detained unnecessarily.

This comes in the wake of five persons with mental disabilities who were released from Chainama East Prison recently.

 

DRW president Wamundila Waliuya appealed to the Legal Resource Chambers (LRC) to take up more cases for persons with mental disabilities who have been declared unfit to undergo trial.

DWR President Wamundila Waliuya

"Many need treatment and have been detained for many years in our prisons. The conditions under which they are detained are not pleasant at all. Today, many more are still in prison without a fair trial, and there is no one to stand for the protection of their rights when found guilty after a fair trial," he said.

 

The Persons with Disabilities Act of 2012 states that the judicature shall take necessary measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal and effective protection and equal benefits of the law without discrimination. This includes persons with mental disabilities.

It further states that where a person with disability is a party in any legal proceedings, the adjudicating body shall take into account the condition of the person with disability and provide procedural and other appropriate facilities to enable that person access justice and participate effectively in the proceedings.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities indicates that “States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others: enjoy the right to liberty and security of persons; are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty”.

Mr Waliuya added that “the continuous detention of persons with mental disabilities in prisons for long periods is in contradiction with international human rights law. An argument may be raised here that such people may be a danger to the community. This is a justifiable argument. It must however be realised that most of the people who commit crimes while in a state of mental crisis are usually triggered by social factors."

He said it was the states’ and the citizens’ responsibility to ensure that factors that trigger mental crisis in persons with mental disabilities were controlled.

 

"Steps should be taken to progressively develop community support services that will act as a measure to reduce mental disabilities. Such services include community based mental health services and community based rehabilitation. Families and communities should be educated on issues related to mental disability. "

However, Mr Waliuya congratulated the High Court for its landmark decision to declare the long detention of five mentally disabled persons illegal.

"DRW congratulates the LRC for representing the petitioners with mental disabilities. In our view, this is a landmark judgment which will build up the portfolio of judgments which promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The judgment has established precedence in Zambia’s jurisprudence."

But he added, "in this case, the courts should now shape themselves to provide reasonable accommodation for persons with mental disabilities rather than detaining them for many years as they wait for psychiatry assessment." PYM

 

UN global Message on Ebola Virus Disease

Message from the UN Medical Services Division: Information on Ebola Virus Disease

The UN Medical Services Division (MSD) has been monitoring closely the recent outbreak of Ebola virus diseases (EVD) in West Africa and is supporting the preparedness and response efforts of our UN health facilities in the affected locations.

Treatment options within the affected countries for anyone who may contract EVD are likely to be limited, and medical evacuation capacities may be significantly disrupted.

Therefore, it is recommended that travel on official business to the countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea be restricted to essential travel only and that each travel request be reviewed on its mission criticality.

For the most updated information and list of countries affected in this recent outbreak, please consult the World Health Organisation website at http://www.who.int/csr/don/archive/disease/ebola/en/

The following are some important points about the transmission of EVD and precautions that should be taken to protect yourself and your family. Individuals become infected when they have direct physical contact with the blood or body fluids of infected person or animal, or contact with contaminated objects.

 

Persons who come into direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person at risk. To date, transmission among humans has been mainly due to caregiver family members or health care workers tending to the very ill or preparing the body for burial.

 

A person can incubate the virus symptoms for 2-21 days, the average being 5 to 8 days becoming ill. THE PERSON IS NOT CONTAGIOUS until they are acutely ill.

 

The virus is easily killed by contact with soap, bleach, sunlight, or drying. A washing machine will kill the virus in clothing saturated with infected blood or body fluids.

 

As always, practice good hygiene and hand washing techniques at all times. Symptoms of EVD include fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, and in some cases, bleeding.

 

If you have recently visited an area where Ebola has been reported and feel sick with any of the above symptoms, seek immediate medical attention.

 

There is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for EVD. PYM