Book challenges Obama claims

The book.

Obama Snr took to drinking �quadruple shots� of Vat 69 or Johnnie Walker scotch whiskey while chain-smoking 555 and Rex cigarettes,� Mr Remnick recounts.

It�s all in America where you hate the government and still have the right to express yourself freely without coercion or intimidation. Only in America, you will find a popularly elected President called a dictator as if he is in league with the Iranian despot, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Those who are calling President Obama a dictator merely because of a legislation passed into law, dont know the true meaning of a dictatorship. They need to learn about what goes on in Zimbabwe and Iran before calling President Obama�s administration a dictatorial regime. Regimes world over, are repressive and employs brutality to destroy dissent from opponents and regular citizens.

Having said that, the role of any political opposition is to play a watchdog role; putting the government in power on it toes fairly without malice, prejudice and personalization. This watchdog role must stick on policies and issues that benefit the people.

The stiff opposition on the Obama administration currently exhibited by the Republican Party in collaboration with the Tea Party movement has turned slanderous and mudslinging. �This is a deviation from real issues that affect the American people like job creation and economic revival. �That is why a big percentage of Americans see this animosity as a ploy whose agenda is to dent Obama�s Presidency.

Before�President Obama�took over,�he acknowledged the fact that fixing America�s present problems, especially the economic downtrend and unemployment was not going to be done overnight. This was a positive gesture to prepare the citizens psychologically instead of giving them false hope.

The President�s critics should understand that leading a Country of more than 300 million people is a hard task and even if John McCain would have become President, it would have taken him time to turn things a round for the American people. After all, Obama has been in the White House for less than two years.

The attacks on the President over big government and its impact on the US economy by the Republican Party do not hold water because there is no prove on this. President Bush senior and a believer in small government was hounded out of office due to poor fiscal policies. He left a trickle down economic mess in the exchequer that President Clinton, a democrat resuscitated to a robust surplus.

Therefore, critics from the Republican Party attacking Obama�s fiscal policies should tell the American people what happened to the huge surplus Clinton left in the national coffers, as well as the state of the Country�s economy when President Obama took over from Bush junior before their totally unwarranted attacks.

I personally agree with real Estate mogul, Mr. Donald Trump who commented one time in CNN of how good the USA economy is when the democrats are in power.

The President�s avid efforts to see the passage of the Health Care bill that will help millions of uninsured Americans to access healthcare should not be politicised. His opponents should wait and see the impact of the bill after its implemented. After all, Obama will not support a legislation that will not benefit the American as it will ruin his political legacy.

Those members of the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement who are persistently discrediting the president seem to have a sinister motive. �After all, where were they when George Bush invaded Iraq by falsely claiming there was weapons of mass destruction which has claimed many American lives as well as billions of USA dollars to rebuild the Arab Country?

The American people expressed their universal suffrage to elect Obama because his message resonated well with their predicaments. If he performs below expectations, they will exercise the same right to vote him out�in 2012. It�s therefore imperative that the freedom that is enjoyed in America today should be exercised with civility, and respect.

His opponents should challenge him on policy matters fairly without mudslinging, propaganda and extremism. By saying they want their country and government back in rallies as if America is on the hands of some colonial power or an a despotic President is an insult not only to those who voted for President Obama but it robs the American people a lot of respect abroad. �It reflects negatively on the Alaska Governor, the defacto leader of the Tea Party movement especially when supporters in her rallies are seen waving placards that read, �Obama go back to Kenya.�

The President was born and bred in America�where he contested for the Presidency and won. He is trying to resuscitate the economy, create�jobs mend bridges between America and her allies as well as fighting terror. He is not a dictator, fascist, anti-Christ or terrorist the way he has been painted in Tea party rallies. He is managing the affairs of government within the confines of the American constitution just like other previous presidents before him.

When leaders irrespective of their political affiliations stoops too low to dent the image of this respected Country just because they don�t like the man who sits in the Oval office, is not only racist but shameful. It�s so tragic that a sane American will spit on an elected representative calling him the �N� word just for a political opinion in the 21^st Century. This sets a very grim image to a Country seen globally as a model for democracy, justice and freedom.

By Joseph Lister Nyaringo

New Jersey USA

Photo: designblind

Many people with disabilities are sexually active and at risk of HIV

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KIGALI, – Rwanda’s recent national condom awareness campaign failed to include messages designed for people with disabilities, something experts say is a mistake, as they are often equally at risk of HIV as the rest of the population.

“The fact that the mass mobilization campaign on condom use did not focus on blind and deaf persons would not only jeopardize efforts to combat HIV/AIDS but behaviour change among the general public,” Jacques Sindayigaya, coordinator of the HIV programme for the NGO, Handicap International. “Many disabled people are sexually active and this situation does not exclude them from having unprotected sex.”

The three-month campaign, which mainly used radio and television spots as well as billboards and more than 200,000 posters to spread the word, ended in February, and according to government sources, was successful in raising awareness. However, Sindayigaya noted that as long as some sections of the population were left out of such campaigns, behaviour change would be limited.

Cyriaque Kanimba, a 28-year-old blind artisan based in the capital, Kigali, said he missed out on the messages.

“I’ve been living with my blindness since birth; I used to listen to the radio programmes, but I also need someone to describe what condoms look like, how to use them,” he said.

I need someone to describe what condoms look like, how to use them

With the National AIDS Control Council (CNLS) and Handicap International, Rwanda’s Umbrella of Persons with Disabilities in the Fight against HIV/AIDS (UPHLS) has been able to initiate some HIV sensitization activities specifically designed for people with disabilities, including training peer educators who are able to communicate in sign language.

However, according to the UPHLS, many challenges remain in addressing HIV among Rwanda’s disabled population, including high illiteracy, no harmonized sign language and little knowledge of Braille, fear of double stigma as a result of being both HIV-positive and disabled, health workers who are unable to communicate effectively with sight- or hearing-impaired patients and lack of national data on HIV/AIDS and disability.

at/kr/mw source.irinnews

Photo: John Nyaga/IRIN

Illegal immigrants fear that visiting a clinic could expose them to the authorities

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NAIROBI,� – Salma*�is HIV-positive and knows she needs life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs, but visiting a doctor could expose her illegal refugee status in Kenya and risk her being sent to a refugee camp, or worse, back to Somalia.

“If I go to the hospital they will tell the police – I would rather just die here than go back to Dadaab or Somalia,” she told IRIN/PlusNews in Eastleigh, a suburb of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

While most refugees coming to Kenya from neighbouring countries stay in official camps, many travel to urban centres across the country with no documentation. They spend much of their time hiding from the authorities, and struggle to make ends meet, with many women turning to sex work.

After spending her first five months in Kenya in Dadaab refugee camp in the northeast, Salma and some friends came to Eastleigh, to work as sex workers.

“Many of my friends were being raped and others beaten but you can’t report [the abuse]. The police will turn on you. When you are raped or beaten you are a victim, when you report you are still a victim,” she said. “At times we sleep with people but they don’t pay. They tell you prostitution is illegal in Kenya. You end up giving your body for free.”

Risking harassment

Kenya is home to 374,000 refugees; official estimates put the number of registered urban refugees at 46,000, but according to the Refugees Consortium of Kenya (RCK), this number could be as high as 100,000 in Nairobi alone, most of whom are unregistered.

“Many urban refugees are exposed to HIV infection because young girls turn to prostitution to earn a living; they do not have access to reproductive health services and many refugees, especially those in urban areas who hide, do not get the right HIV prevention and treatment messages,” said Simon Konzolo, a programme officer at RCK.

According a recent report by the Overseas Development Institute, Hidden and Exposed: Urban Refugees in Nairobi, many young girls are smuggled into Kenya by other refugees and have to pay for their passage with their bodies.

When you are raped or beaten you are a victim, when you report you are still a victim

“While some are treated well and are paid, many work long hours, are not paid and are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse,” the report, which profiled refugees from Ethiopia, Burundi, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Congo, Uganda and Rwanda, found.

Afraid of the police, the women have nowhere to turn when they are abused.

“They are literally living on the edge because they say if they come forward, they risk harassment from government authorities like the police,” said Sara Pavanello, a research officer with the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI.

“… it means therefore many do not want to come forward to seek services offered by the government like health and education”, she added.

Locked out

Kenya’s HIV policy offers free HIV services to anyone with legal residential status, effectively locking out HIV-positive illegal immigrants.

“The government has a duty to provide protection to refugees and this involves provision of shelter, food, health and medical care and education,” said Peter Kusimba, commissioner for refugee affairs at the Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons. “These, however, are only provided to refugees with legal immigrant status or are mandated by the UNHCR [the UN Refugee Agency] to be in the camps.

“It would, however, be difficult to provide services to unregistered urban refugees because they wouldn’t come out for fear of arrest but we encourage them to come and apply for legal immigrant status so that they receive these services like everybody else,” he added.

“It is time the government checked into the realities of the day and changed it [the HIV policy] to [include] groups like refugees who might need this treatment so that they are not left out,” RCK’s Konzolo said.

ko/kr/mw source.irinnews

* Not her real name

Photo: Kanya Ndaki/PlusNews

Bad reputation

DURBAN, 1 – South Africa’s traditional healing profession has often been mired in controversy over treating HIV/AIDS, with dodgy traditional remedies promoted as alternatives to antiretroviral (ARV) medication, and some groups of traditional healers being associated with AIDS denialists.

But not all traditional healers deserve the bad rap. Duduzile Magubane is one of the 1,200 traditional healers in KwaZulu-Natal Province who participated in the Biomedical and Traditional Healing Collaboration Against HIV/AIDS, a groundbreaking project aimed at empowering traditional healers to play a meaningful role in healthcare.

Magubane has been part of the project since its inception five years ago, and has attended several training programmes and workshops. In one of her consulting rooms in Folweni Township, south of the coastal city of Durban, folders containing her patients’ records are stacked neatly beside her protective aprons, rubber gloves, bandages, antiseptics and condoms.

In the other room she uses her spiritual powers to diagnose thousands of patients a year and dispenses the necessary herbs. Magubane told IRIN/PlusNews that at first she was reluctant to take part in the project, but she learnt a lot and has become more organised in her work.

“I can now weigh my patients, write down their records, and monitor them as they go along. I also have developed a good working relationship with the local clinic, and when I see that a patient has symptoms of HIV infection, diabetes or high blood pressure, I refer them to the clinic so that they can conduct tests,” she said.

Training with a difference

Research indicated a serious need to include traditional healers in the fight against HIV and AIDS, but in contrast to many well-meaning training programmes that have tended to ignore the experience of traditional healers, the project was developed after a series of workshops between traditional healers and the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Traditional healing is the most affordable and accessible healthcare system to the majority of the population, and many people consult a traditional healer when they are ill,” said Prof Nceba Gqaleni, former deputy dean of the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, who also served on the World Health Organisation’s traditional medicine committee from 2002 to 2006, and is the head of the project.

“In the past doctors and nurses have been taken to training and workshops to empower them to deal with HIV and AIDS, but this was not extended to the traditional healers despite their role in African societies,” he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Traditional healing is the most affordable and accessible healthcare system to the majority of the population

The project is funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and run by the university, traditional healers and the provincial health department. Gqaleni said the programme included a 5-day training workshop that focused on immune system response to viral invasion and disease progression. Medical animations are combined with graphics and dramatic enactment to ensure better understanding.

A booklet of guidelines helps traditional healers recognise HIV-related symptoms in their patients. “By working in the project we have also learnt that healers who claim to have a cure for HIV/AIDS are actually healing opportunistic infections, such as diarrhoea,” said Gqaleni.

Clinics also involved

Sister Thandiwe Cele, head of the Folweni Clinic, said the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department had issued a directive requiring clinics to work closely with local traditional healers, especially in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

“We have about 20 traditional healers who work with us here – they refer their patients to us for testing. Some of our patients tell us they would like to get traditional treatment and we refer them to these healers because they have been taught well on how to take care of patients.”

As a result of the project, patients with HIV now come to the clinic early and get the necessary medication, Cele said. Working with traditional healers has also decreased the risk of people being taken in by charlatans who claimed to cure all sorts of conditions – including HIV.

So far, the programme has been run as a pilot project in a few high-prevalence districts in KwaZulu-Natal, but its success has prompted traditional healers in other provinces to call on government to implement it nationally. Gqaleni noted that international organisations had expressed an interest in replicating it in other parts of the continent.

Cebokwakhe Khondo, another healer, said the project had trained more than 350 in his area. “We are very pleased with the things we have learnt here. Many traditional healers are happy because they said it removed a stigma that they are the people who are spreading HIV.”

cm/kn/he source.irinnews