CLIMATE change and global warming have caused tremendous suffering among the world's poor and vulnerable. The risk for these groups of people is high for numerous reasons, but the biggest is that they are vulnerable; defenceless, weak and lacking sufficient capacity to respond to, or even prepare for climate-related disasters. Apart from involuntarily allowing such disasters disrupt their lifestyles, the options available to vulnerable people are limited, if it's not for external support from the Government, NGOs, international donors and community members among others.
In Zimbabwe, one such constituency of people that has been severely affected by the impacts of climate change with little defence, and mostly neglected is those living with HIV and Aids. A combination of poverty, ill-health and restricted access to critical resources such as finance and drugs greatly incapacitates the bulk of Zimbabwe's 1,3 million HIV+ people from engaging in actions that limit the damage of a changing climate on livelihoods. In these conditions, adaptation is out of the question. Tariro Makanga-Chikumbirike, spokesperson for SAFAIDS, a donor and HIV/Aids advocacy organisation said poverty had worsened and dietary patterns for HIV+ people seriously compromised because of recurrent droughts and subsequent food shortages.
As a result, the health of such people, which is heavily dependent on a nutritious diet, was on the line. "This (drought) affects people living with HIV in that they require good nutrition for them to fight opportunistic infections as well as cope with their treatment," explained Ms Makanga-Chikumbirike in an interview.
"Lack of food results in their treatment not being effective as well as general poor health. For those who are HIV+ and are also infected with TB, the burden is even worse as TB treatment also requires nutritious food for the person taking it."
The greatest tragedy, however, has been the absence of swift action from concerned stakeholders to deal with issues arising from climate change among those living with HIV and Aids. And one major reason for this has been established: lack of serious climate change/HIV and Aids research, case by case study of whether climate change influences the life patterns of HIV+ people, in what way and whether it could be corrected. An official from ZNNP+, a local non-governmental organisation helping HIV positive people, secretly confessed to me recently that a number of their members were dying during winters because of a shortage of warm clothing, blankets and inadequate preparation.
The official said many NGOs dealing with HIV and Aids in Zimbabwe, including ZNNP+ had not taken climate change into account and were, therefore, not prepared to handle climate-linked catastrophes. "Research in this area has been seriously lacking.
Indeed, the NGO sector must do more to factor in the impacts of climate change in HIV responses," said the official who cannot be named for professional reasons. Plans were now afoot for the distribution of mosquito nets to HIV+ people in malaria prone areas, the ZNNP+ official said, as a response to hotter than average weather conditions in which mosquitoes flourish.
Scientists cite extreme weather such as very cold winters or severely hot summers as some of the signs of a changing global climate system. In Zimbabwe similar events have not been uncommon, particularly in the last few decades. This year meteorologists have predicted an unusually extremely cold winter season. Some areas are seen recording daytime temperatures of below zero degrees Celsius, by far a forgettable experience for most Zimbabweans who are used to warmer, milder winters.
It is generally regarded very cold if maximum temperatures fall to at least 19 degrees Celsius in a lot of areas countrywide. Nyevero Chivariro, a Harare-based HIV activist and campaigner who has lived for the past 17 years with the disease said HIV+ people were getting a raw deal. He said apart from the looming shortage of HIV treatment drugs, where 300 000 souls risked being added to the already long list of several thousand others divorced from ARVs, very little was being done to address climate change mitigation and adaptation for this vulnerable group. "...we are being taken advantage of," Chivariro charged.
"These NGOs and other associations who claim to be compassionate about us (HIV+ people) are never like so. They take our photos. Make our posters and use our database for their benefit and after reaching their hidden motive they forget about us."
He said people living with Hiv and Aids in Zimbabwe were severely discriminated and stigmatised by the same organisations that claim to have their best interests at heart urging them, instead to provide assistance to help kick-start self-help income generating projects.
But the society, Government, NGOs and other interested stakeholders were responding to their best capacity in helping HIV+ people although these strategies may not be specifically designed to address challenges posed by climate change, contends Ms Makanga-Chikumbirike.
She said: "Government has been assisting communities hard hit with drought with maize meal. Though this is not specifically targeted at HIV+ people only, this has gone a long way to ensure HIV+ people also access food. NGOs have also assisted in providing nutritional supplements to address this challenge." Clearly, a lot is missing, and that's urgent action, sending help to those that need it most, on time.
God is faithful.
Copyright © 2012 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections â€" or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment