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In many societies, AIDS preventions efforts are hampered by sheer supersition. In Zambia, fears of Satanism are effecting a testing and counselling project:
And Kanyama residents yesterday shunned the HIV/AIDS voluntary, counselling and testing (VCT) preliminary HIV/AIDS function, for fear that their blood samples would be used for Satanism purposes.
Kanyama Member of Parliament Henry Mtonga said HIV/AIDS counsellors had faced resistance from the people in the area following last Saturday's riots in which a church was accused of practising Satanism.
The Member of Parliament then went on to give credence to the rumour, contributing to the problem:
Mr Mtonga said it was important for people to distinguish between blood samples meant for VCT and those that were meant for alleged Satanism activities.
And in news media everywhere, there are stories of stigma and denial, placing the blame on witchcraft. Here's just one example, from a long article explaining how cultural traditions in one area have helped spread the virus:
There is a big number of number of people who do not want to go through VCT [voluntary counselling and testing centres], who do not utilise the antiretroviral programmes that are already in place in Nyanza. In fact, they do not want even to know what killed people,he said.
People continue interacting sexually with these women even after their husbands have died of HIV/AIDS,Olayo observed.Alternative explanations are given for every death. It is either a neighbour's witchcraft, or chira [a curse], or something else.
High HIV/AIDS death toll worries British envoy - Times of Zambia, 30th November 2005; KENYA: Cultural traditions fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS - IRIN Africa, 30th November 2005.
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Superstition and Other Silliness
at 08:40. Last modified on September 28 2006 at 23:43.
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Comments
1: Posted by: G. Tingey | December 1, 2005 9:33 AM
Quite frankly, let'em get on with it.
Natural selection will do the rest.
Except ... this sort of thing pops up where something CAN be done - like the Nigerian muslim who deliberately started the lie about Polio vaccination being a "Westrn plot to sterilise muslim women".
Why this shit hasn't been executed is beyond me.
Or at leat made to publicly recant - because we CAN do something about Polio, whereas AIDS is, as yet incurable - though results just in show that this may start to change soon(ish)
2: Posted by: Feòrag | December 1, 2005 11:29 AM
If you want to be a selfish bastard, then the reason we need to deal with AIDS in the Third World is because we need their cheap labour to keep up in the luxuries that we regard as essential.
Evangelism, witnessing and similar activitites go by one name here—, and is no different from spam for viagra, penis enlargement products and pornography. We do not take advertising. If you want to advertise your imaginary friend, please spend your own money on your own web space to do so. Any attempts to use the comments section for advertisements will be deleted, and the perpetrator barred, unless they are particularly stupid, in which case I reserve the right to pinch an idea from Teresa Nielsen Hayden and delete all the vowels.
This is not a contacts site. If you are looking for help regarding a particular path, I suggest The Witches' Voice, which does operate a contacts service.
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