On Saturday, June 21, Juba Monitor ran a story on its front page about the death of 87 victims of HIV/AIDS in Yei. Yei River County AIDS Coordinator who was quoted in the story revealed that since the beginning of this year, 2,914 people with HIV/AIDS have been registered, 896 of whom are currently on Anti-Retroviral drugs, 87 died and 291 defaulted treatments. The official blamed alarming infection rates on the lack of awareness, stigma and cultural practices like polygamy among the people.
But, who is supposed to conduct sensitization and awareness on this deadly disease? Should awareness creation also wait for the final peace accord between the government and Dr. Riek Machar’s rebels? Should it wait for restructuring of governance systems in South Sudan so that service delivery can consequently address HIV and AIDS preventive mechanisms? Indeed, it is true that many citizens of this country are ignorant about the existence of this killer disease or may have not been made to know about it. The media who are supposed to sensitize masses about this killer disease are giving too much airtime and space to proponents and opponents of federalism and the ongoing peace process in Addis Ababa. This is being done to the extent of neglecting other serious problems affecting people in this country.
If 87 people could die in six months just in one county, how many victims are infected or have died of AIDS in the other 71 counties in South Sudan? I believe the statistics could be worrisome. If these figures are added to numbers dying of cholera, malaria, typhoid, famine and victims of ongoing civil war, it means we are living in a country whose citizens are on the verge of extinction. In fact, the country is on typical death row because majority of citizens are exposed to dangers whose ends is death. Call it malaria, AIDS, famine, flood, cholera, war e.e.t.c…
Despite all these dangers, the noise is about federalism and representation in the mediation talks in Sheraton Hotel to get IGAD per diems on the pretext of peace talks that have already cost $17 million with nothing to show for it, other than empty speeches and snapshots for Al-Jazeera and BBC televisions!
Meanwhile, South Sudanese are still waiting the ‘messiah’ to come with mechanisms that will educate and sensitize those who deny the existence of AIDS to accept its reality, so that we don’t lose other 87 South Sudanese lives again in the next six months in the border town of Yei!
The author is journalist, blogger, social and political commentator based in Juba. He can be reached at mapuormalual@yahoo.com or mapuormalual.wordpress.com
On Saturday, June 21, Juba Monitor ran a story on its front page about the death of 87 victims of HIV/AIDS in Yei. Yei River County AIDS Coordinator who was quoted in the story revealed that since the beginning of this year, 2,914 people with HIV/AIDS have been registered, 896 of whom are currently on Anti-Retroviral drugs, 87 died and 291 defaulted treatments. The official blamed alarming infection rates on the lack of awareness, stigma and cultural practices like polygamy among the people.
But, who is supposed to conduct sensitization and awareness on this deadly disease? Should awareness creation also wait for the final peace accord between the government and Dr. Riek Machar’s rebels? Should it wait for restructuring of governance systems in South Sudan so that service delivery can consequently address HIV and AIDS preventive mechanisms? Indeed, it is true that many citizens of this country are ignorant about the existence of this killer disease or may have not been made to know about it. The media who are supposed to sensitize masses about this killer disease are giving too much airtime and space to proponents and opponents of federalism and the ongoing peace process in Addis Ababa. This is being done to the extent of neglecting other serious problems affecting people in this country.
If 87 people could die in six months just in one county, how many victims are infected or have died of AIDS in the other 71 counties in South Sudan? I believe the statistics could be worrisome. If these figures are added to numbers dying of cholera, malaria, typhoid, famine and victims of ongoing civil war, it means we are living in a country whose citizens are on the verge of extinction. In fact, the country is on typical death row because majority of citizens are exposed to dangers whose ends is death. Call it malaria, AIDS, famine, flood, cholera, war e.e.t.c…
Despite all these dangers, the noise is about federalism and representation in the mediation talks in Sheraton Hotel to get IGAD per diems on the pretext of peace talks that have already cost $17 million with nothing to show for it, other than empty speeches and snapshots for Al-Jazeera and BBC televisions!
Meanwhile, South Sudanese are still waiting the ‘messiah’ to come with mechanisms that will educate and sensitize those who deny the existence of AIDS to accept its reality, so that we don’t lose other 87 South Sudanese lives again in the next six months in the border town of Yei!
The author is journalist, blogger, social and political commentator based in Juba. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mapuormalual.wordpress.com
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