MEDIA REACTION: HIV/AIDS; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 000014 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INR/R/MR INFO AF/PDPA DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS; AF/S NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: HIV/AIDS; HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Why the world watches as Africans die of Aids" the independent "Daily News" dedicated its January 4 editorial to urging African leaders to be at the forefront in the fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic in their countries. Using Uganda as an example, the editorial underscored the importance of a collective approach to solving a problem, saying: "If people are united, if they all appreciate the enormity of their problem and how only unity can vanquish it, the chances of success are enhanced a thousand-fold." Excerpts: ¶2. "Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy on HIV/Aids, has recently condemned the international community for watching while Africans die of HIV/Aids. He has compared the world's lack of enthusiasm to help Africa with vital but inexpensive drugs to alleviate the scourge to its readiness to finance a large- scale invasion of Iraq. While Lewis displays the sort of sympathy for the continent that gives some African leaders grist for their criticism of the evils of globalization, he could be accused of taking a rather simplistic position. Africa's begging bowl has become an almost permanent appendage of its image. ¶3. "The continent is the worst affected by the HIV/Aids pandemic, yet most of its governments evince little of the desperation that made Yoweri Museveni's government in Uganda act so decisively to engage the disease as if it was an alien invasion force. Uganda has not repelled the enemy entirely, but nobody in sub-Sahara Africa can argue that among the countries that have set an example worth emulating in the fight against HIV/Aids, Uganda must come near the top of the list. By all accounts, foreign help, while it had an impact, was not the final determinant in the struggle. The government and the people themselves recognized from the beginning that this was their fight and would be won only if they are united. So it is with everything else in Africa. If people are united, if they all appreciate the enormity of their problem and how only unity can vanquish it, then chances of success are enhanced a thousand-fold. ¶4. " Against the HIV/Aids pandemic, many African governments stood idly while their people died hideous deaths. . .Lewis has toured Africa and his attitude has been generally sympathetic to the governments. But some of this sympathy is misplaced: many of the governments become actively engaged in promoting anti-HIV/Aids programs only on World Aids Day in December. . .This attitude among African governments to seek international help with what are essentially their own problems has blighted the continent's relations with the donor community, introducing the world to donor fatigue. . .But what Africa needs urgently are leaders who can inspire their people to help themselves before they appeal for help from the rest of the world. . .African governments need to learn that freedom from colonialism does not automatically translate into freedom from poverty, hunger and disease." SULLIVAN