I wish to preamble my commentary by asserting that from a global perspective, Botswana is among the countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. It is not unknown that HIV/AIDS is a real and major threat directly linked to the continued protection as well as promotion of fundamental human rights.
To withstand this threat posed by this epidemic the state must discharge the human rights obligations vested on it for the success of this nation in the fight against the disease. HIV/AIDS is not only a health issue; rather it has huge social and economic implications that require multi-sectoral responses.
Poverty, gender inequality, etc, are all examples of social and economic factors that can increase vulnerability to HIV infections. Children, youth and women are at a greater risk. Women are particularly vulnerable to infection due to a complex mix of discrimination, economic deprivation, cultural and biological factors. I am not aware of any specific law in Botswana that targets social security and HIV/AIDS.
I only know of utilisation of social protection system to address the repercussions of the epidemic but this notion of social protection is underdeveloped and dangerously fragmented, with no underlying policy to guide its implementation for the desired ends to be attained.
It is advisable that we yield from the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which clearly points out that women’s rights are to recognised and protected as Human rights. This declaration also acknowledges that violence against women is a serious violation of fundamental human rights. Perpetrators of this brutality must be rehabilitated and empowered to run their lives in accordance with International Human rights framework.
In the absence of protection of Human rights, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS becomes difficult to avert. The velocity at which human rights organizations like BONELA are preaching promotion and protection of human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS is commendable.
There gesture is exactly in line with the call for human rights and for compassion and solidarity with People Living With HIV/AIDS which had been explicitly embodied in the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s first response to AIDS. This approach was motivated by moral outrage and also by the recognition that protection of human rights was a requisite element of a worldwide public health response to the epidemic.
It is not in doubt that public health strategy in human rights terms is anchored in the international law, and this makes governments and intergovernmental organisations publicly accountable for their actions toward PLWA.
The need to promote human rights in the fight against HIV/AIDS is an urgent one. If human rights are not protected and promoted, this will make people more vulnerable to physical and emotional injury and attack.
They will become assailable and open to censure and criticism. They will become fragile and subject to harm and hurt from both external and internal sources. Lack of recognition of human rights not only causes unnecessary personal suffering and loss of dignity for these people living with HIV/AIDS but it also directly fuels the spread of the epidemic. Observably, the spread of HIV/AIDS is disproportionately high among groups that suffer from a lack of human rights protection, social and economic discrimination or marginalisation in terms of legal status.
There is a definite need to bring human rights to the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS with the understanding that a rights-based approach is vital in recognising societal vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Policies should be monitored to ensure that those implemented are compliant with a human rights approach. With this situation that I am visualising coupled with robust social justice our dream of ‘No new HIV infections by 2016’ will come to pass.
Morategi Richo Montgomery
Social Worker
Tutume Primary Hospital
71243470/2987249
montgomem@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Source:gazettebw.com/
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