HIV/AIDS and the election crisis

The Kenya post elections of late December 2007 to the present date has made me reflect on the following pertinent issues which most policy makers might tend to cast a blind eye on them. The issues are related to the treatment of people living with and affected by HIV & AIDS, especially women and children, as well as people with disabilities in the pre-election, the election process and the post election era.

- Have the law makers ensured that people living with and affected by HIV & AIDS, especially women and children, and people with disabilities, are not prone to violence prior to the elections, during the elections and the post election era?

- In the event that violence might break out in one way or the other, are there any mechanisms, that have been put in place to ensure that people living with and affected by HIV & AIDS will still have access to life saving drugs (ARVs- anti-retro viral drugs), as they get displaced?

- Have the resources been put in place to ensure that women and children have access to prevention methods , contraceptives and the post exposure prophylaxis(PEP) , so as to ensure that unwanted pregnancies ,contraction of STDs and HIV virus ,in the event that they are raped by their male counterparts in the face of violence?

The above issues might seem to be obvious and unimportant , but a personal opinion on the Kenyan post-elections era that has claimed many lives, shows that policy makers had not taken enough precautions on how to ensure that the lives of people living positive and people with disabilities are protected, especially for women and girls.

I can’t imagine how the internally displaced communities in Kenya are coping with the trauma of violence after the election. The Kenya post election era is a wake up call to Zimbabweans who would be taking part in the upcoming elections in March 2008 and other African nations which would be casting their votes this year. At the end of the day, what is more important is the preservation of people’s lives and health and not focus on trivial issues.

*Tafadzwa R. Muropa writes this letter in her personal capacity as a member of MISA Zimbabwe, Women’s Coalition in Zimbabwe and FEMNET