Aids in Zambia: Challenges to Human Rights

Mvunga, Khandikile P (1994) Aids in Zambia: Challenges to Human Rights. Undergraduate thesis, University of Zambia.

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Abstract

AIDS is one of the most serious health problems that has ever faced mankind. AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It is a disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV - the AIDS virus. The AIDS virus may live in the human body for years before actual symptoms appear. 1 It primarily affects the body by making it unable to fight other diseases. These diseases can cause death. The AIDS virus can be spread by unprotected sexual intercourse (without a condom) with an infected person, sharing drug needles and syringes, and also from mother to baby before or during birth. In addition, some persons with hemophilia and others have been infected by receiving infected blood. For the purposes of this essay, it is noteworthy that one cannot 'catch' AIDS like a cold or flu because the virus is different. The AIDS virus cannot be transmitted through ordinary casual contact with people around you in school, in the work place, at parties or in stores? Between November 1986 and May 1988 the number of African countries reporting cases of AIDS to the World Health Organization (WHO) increased from eight to thirty-eight. As of 31 December 1992 AIDS cases had been reported by all countries of the region. Despite knowledge of the various ways in which AIDS can be transmitted, and the fact that a lot of victims of the virus contract it innocently, society has always, unfortunately, associated its victims with promiscuity and loose morals. As a result, all too often, one of the significant factors which stands in the way of a public health approach to AIDS, and which has fuelled the pandemic, is stigmatization of people who are infected, which prevents them from seeking help. Given the seriousness of the problem posed by the HIV I AIDS pandemic, there is, no doubt, need to wage war against this killer disease. In the words of Javier Perez de Cueller, however, 'the world should make war against AIDS and not against people with AIDS. As one member of the Positive and Living Squad (PALS) states, dealing with people infected with the virus or suffering from AIDS is a serious challenge. These are people who may be physically fit but are certainly emotionally 'sick'. They, therefore, need a lot of compassion and understanding. The last thing they deserve is condemnation and victimization. They are no less human than those that are HIV negative. They, however, frequently face rejection in society, places of work insurance companies and so on. This piece of work is, therefore, restricted to looking at the challenges that the HIV I AIDS pandemic presents to human rights. I shall start by looking at the relationship between AIDS and human rights. Chapter one deals with the violations of fundamental human rights on the basis of one's HIV/AIDS status. The second chapter proceeds to look at the responses to these violations against AIDS victims, both global and national. The global responses are referred to for comparative purposes. In this regard AIDS-related legislation and its benefits will be examined, by which it is hoped to propose some legislative solutions. It is felt that an essay of this nature would be incomplete without including the duties of HIV I AIDS persons. Hence, chapter three aims at balancing the rights of HIV I AIDS victims against corresponding duties. The essay will be concluded with proposals and recommendations on how best to meet the human rights challenges posed by the HIV / AIDS pandemic. I hope that this essay will be a contribution to the already existing efforts in the struggle for the respect and recognition of human rights for AIDS victims. And further, that it will be an eye opener to the reader to see that practical solutions to the existing violations are not impossible.

Item Type:	Thesis (Undergraduate)
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General)
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Geoffrey Obatsa
Date Deposited:	13 May 2019 10:51
Last Modified:	13 May 2019 10:51
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/9206

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