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AFRO-NETS> RFI: HIV/AIDS/SIDA in Sub-Saharan African military (6)
RFI: HIV/AIDS/SIDA in Sub-Saharan African military (6)
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Dear Colleagues,
I found the following on the web and have shared it with a number of
colleagues interested in military and Africa.
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Dear Conference Colleagues:
As a follow-up to our discussion of the effects of HIV/AIDS/SIDA in
Sub-Saharan Africa and the ramifications of these effects for mili-
tary, economic, and political stability at the AIDS Briefs:
Military Populations:
http://www.info.usaid.gov/regions/afr/hhraa/aids_briefs/military.html
Main points all verbatum
O Throughout the world, military personnel are among the most suscep-
tible populations to HIV and AIDS. They are mostly young and sexually
active, are often away from home and governed more by peer pressure
than social convention, are inclined to feel that they are invincible
and to take risks, and are surrounded by opportunities for casual
sex.
O Deployment to unsettled areas increases their chances of acquiring
HIV, as they are exposed not only to socially disrupted settings
where sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may abound, but also to
the possibility of infection through wounding and contaminated blood.
O HIV transmission is five to twenty times more likely where other
STIs are present; peacetime STI infection rates among military popu-
lations are two to five times higher than in civilian societies.
O During wartime, military risk (of STIs) increases by as much as 100
times that of civilians.
O In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, ministries of defence report
averages of 20% to 40% HIV-positivity within their armed services,
with rates of 50% to 60% in a few countries where the virus has been
present over 10 years. Such attrition causes loss of continuity at
command level and within the ranks, increases costs for the recruit-
ment and training of replacements, and reduces military preparedness,
internal stability and external security. In this sense, HIV/AIDS can
easily become a regional destabiliser and a potential war-starter.
O HIV prevention has gained a new urgency with the increasing deploy-
ment if soldiers on United Nations and other peacekeeping mis-
sions.Countries contributing peacekeeping units are therefore con-
cerned that returning troops might transfer HIV to their families.
Host-country leaders express equal worry that foreign peacekeepers
may transmit HIV to their own people. The UN Department of Peace-
Keeping (sic) Operations recommends that training in HIV prevention
be required of all militaries supplying peacekeepers, voluntary or
mandatory HOV screening be employed prior to deployment, and troops
and personnel affected with HIV and/or other STIs should not be de-
ployed.
O As AIDS has become the leading cause of death in many military or-
ganisations, several controversial questions arise concerning the in-
terface of military and civilian populations.
O Growth of AIDS-related deaths among young Third-World adults is
likely to exert a highly negative impact on economic, political, and
military stability. In military administrations especially, stability
may be seriously undermined by depletion in the ranks of key officer
and their potential successors. There are four more pages looking at
Sectoral Coping Activities,Strategies to Reduce Vulnerability to
HIV/AIDS, a Checklist, and References.
Key contact is:
Civil-Military Alliance to Combat HIV and AIDS
PO Box 333
Norwicj, Vermont 05055, USA
Tel: +1-802-649-5296
Fax: +1-802-649-2331
(No e-mail or website given, but I'll contact them pronto.)
Other references:
HIVInSite AIDS and the Military
http://HIVInSite.ucsf.edu/topic/military
Gives facts and figures, especially vulnerable groups within the
military, impact of HIV/AIDS on the military; concrete actions to be
taken, and HIV testing.
AIDSScan
http://www.thebody.com/iapac/070996.html
Gives facts and figures (consistent with above) and examples of risks
for US, Cameroon, Ugandan, and Vietnamese militaries.
Battle Against AIDS a Defence Force Priority, Johannesburg, RSA, 7
Sept, 1999
http://livenews.24.com/English/Health_News
Quotes RSA Defence Minister Patrick Lekota "In order for the defence
force to be fully informed on the latest developments in combating
the disease (HIV infection), the defence force classified the issue
as one of its ten most important strategic priorities.The incidence
of HIV infection in particular impacts on the defence force in plan-
ning international deployments "
Peacekeepers as Footsoldiers Against AIDS 30 Jan, 2000
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/30worl6.html
Quotes Ambassador Holbrook's discussion of UN Draft Resolution for
PKO in DRC: "We now have for the first time a UN peacekeeping opera-
tion resolution that contains specific references to HIV/AIDS.The US
would not, ever again, be able to accept resolutions that do not con-
tain a reference to instructions encouraging the UN to deal with the
problems (HIV/AIDS)"
For on-going information on HIV/AIDS/SIDA in Sub-Saharan Africa go
to:
http://www.africanews http://www.worldwatch.org/alerts/990607.html
http://hivinsite.uscf.edu
http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/hivaids/aidsafr.html
http://www.wsws.org/science/1998/jun21998/aids-j27.shtml
http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/aids_african/part3.html
http://www.nas.edu/onpi/pr/dec95/africa.html
http://www.who.int/bulletin/news/vol.77no.1/africanaids.htm
http://www.who.org/SFgate/cgi-bin/SFgate
http://www.chc.gov/searchHIV/AIDS
That's just the tip of the pandemic. Obviously there IS much to do.
Regards to all,
Sarah Archer, RN, DrPH
mailto:[email protected]
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