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Aids activists plan 'die in' over ARVs
Bertha Shoko, The Standard (Zimbabwe)
October 15, 2006

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=5035&siteID=1

ANGRY activists living with HIV and Aids, plan to stage a "die in" in Harare if the government fails to provide them with life-prolonging ARVs in a week’s time, The Standard understands.

Led by the self-styled "General Gunpowder", the group told The Standard in Harare last week they planned to launch what they called a "chimurenga" to force the government to provide ARVs to thousands of mostly poor people living with HIV and Aids.

Anti-Retroviral drugs, taken regularly, can prolong the life of people suffering from HIV and Aids.

They are not a cure of the disease, but have been proven to prevent early death from the debilitating effects of the disease for which medical science still has no cure, more than 25 years after it exploded onto the scene in the early 1980s.

The activists, all with HIV and full-blown Aids, allege the drugs are benefiting mostly "corrupt" government officials and their relatives.

The group belongs to the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV and Aids (ZNPP+).

They said they planned to stage their "die in" at the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare head office in Harare.

The ministry estimates there are more than 1,8 million HIV- positive Zimbabweans. Of these between 300 000 and 600 000 are in urgent need of the life-prolonging ARVs but only about 40 000 are accessing the drugs in both the private and public sectors.

The "rebel" members of the ZNNPP+ said they were "unhappy and frustrated" by the government’s failure to provide ARVs to all people in need of them.

They said they felt "betrayed and angry" and now wanted to force the government into action.

The group is led by Joao Zangarat, "General Gunpowder" to his colleagues. He alleges that State-run ARV programmes are benefiting corrupt government officials and their relatives while the majority of the people "continue to suffer", barely able to afford a monthly dose of Cotrimoxazole.

The drug is recommended for people living with HIV and Aids, as it keeps at bay such respiratory diseases as pneumonia and others.

Zangarat said "General Gunpowder" was his name for what he calls the "ARV Chimurenga".

He said if the government and the National Aids Council (NAC) did not respond positively to their "frustration and bitterness" at the end of the week, "then they must face the consequences".

He said their action would include a "die in" at the ministry head offices or a hunger strike.

He said: "We will die there if we have to. The government has betrayed us. We PLWAs (people living with HIV and Aids) now live like paupers because we have no support from the government. They have forgotten us. We are very bitter. "

A senior NAC official, who preferred anonymity, said the ministry was responsible for providing ARVs to PLWAs.

The NAC channels part of the Aids Levy to the ministry for the procurement of ARVs. "What happens after this is not NAC’s responsibility," said the official.

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