The Inquirer (Monrovia)
Timothy T. Seaklon
7 June 2007
Monrovia — Are funds allotted to the Liberia's HIV/Aids Treatment and Awareness Programme being diverted to others or spent for its intended purpose? This is a question, which pricks the minds of Liberians living with the virus when they openly said that such funds are going to people not living with the disease.
A Liberian living With HIV/Aids and the first to break the silence in 2002, Ms. Kpanna Jallah, speaking at a press conference organized by the HIV/Aids Awareness and Advocacy Group said funds brought into the country for awareness and treatment of HIV/Aids are being pocketed by people not living with the virus while those living with the disease are left to languish.
Ms. Jallah said the issue of HIV/Aids should not be left with the Ministry of Health alone but to be the prerogative of all government ministries and agencies, religious organizations and the entire public, saying, "we must all work together for the awareness and the eradication of HIV/Aids."
Ms. Jallah stated that Liberians must be sincere to work for the prevention and awareness of the virus because it is a reality, saying, " HIV/Aids is here and must be eradicated."
Ms. Jallah who spoke with optimism and courage said that she and her colleagues living with HIV/Aids would not give up their fight but would continue to pray that God ensures that their inner spirits endure to live and spread the news of the virus, which many Liberians do not believe its existence.
Ms. Jallah said when she broke the silence about HIV/Aids in 2002 many friends and her family members deserted her, saying, " This, is why we must work against stigma and discrimination in our society."
She revealed that there are many Liberians who have the virus but are afraid to break the silence for fear of being discriminated in society.
Touching on the causes and spread of the disease, Ms. Jallah appealed to parents especially mothers to stop sending their daughters to look for a living for them, something that leads to what they might never expect to happen to such a child.
Citing the example of Zambia and Uganda, Ms. Jallah said those countries had made tremendous stride in the fight against HIV/Aids because the people and their leaders especially their presidents got involved in the awareness campaign thus making people to know the reality of the virus.
She then challenged the President and Government of Liberia to join the fight against the virus and help save lives in a country coming out of war.
Earlier, a delegation of the Ambassadors of Hope Mission to Liberia and the Society for Women and Aids in Africa Liberia (SWAA-Liberia), the Light Association and the Forum for African and Arab Parliamentarian for Population and Development, member of the House of Representatives, among other launched a campaign to ensure that Liberia accepts the Model Law to fight HIV/Aids.
The Law, which is accepted by other countries in the sub-region, speaks against stigma and discrimination especially for those living with HIV/Aids in any endeavor of life.
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