MESSAGE TO THE NATION
BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT
ALHAJI DR. AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH,
CHAIRMAN NATIONAL HIV/AIDS COUNCIL
ON WORLD AIDS DAY
1ST DECEMBER, 2004

HIV/AIDS is a complex, multifaceted, development problem which requires both short-term containment actions and long-term, sustained, and broad-based responses. Such responses include a range of activities involving virtually all levels and sectors of government and society.

December 1 each year marks a global event dedicated to remembering the victims of AIDS, learning more about the devastating effects of the disease around the world, and reaffirming the commitment to fight it. This year's theme is "Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS," which reflects a focus on how the effects of HIV/AIDS have significantly increased among women. Women now make up half of all people living with HIV worldwide, and in sub-Saharan Africa the figure is 59%. Women are infected at an earlier age than men, and the ratio of new infections among women compared to men is even higher within the 15-24 age group. Poverty, instability, violence, lack of access to adequate health care, and ignorance all contribute to the problem.

The way we deal with AIDS in Sierra Leone will determine our future. The devastation wrought by HIV/AIDS is so acute that it has become one of the main obstacles to development itself. My Government sometime ago declared "HIV/AIDS as a national security issue".
Worldwide evidence suggests that a large proportion of new HIV infections are due to gender-based violence in homes, schools, the workplace and other social arenas. Forced or coerced sex renders a woman even more vulnerable to infection, and the younger she is, the more likely it is that she will contract HIV.

Thank God, HIV/AIDS has not spread in Sierra Leone as rapidly as in other countries. To ameliorate the situation further, we need to confront this disease by adopting a three-pronged approach - (i) to sensitise the population about the disease, how to prevent it and how to avoid contracting it; (2) to do all that we can to relieve the pain and suffering of those who have already become victims of this disease. We can do so by creating the proper provision and atmosphere for their treatment and upkeep; (3) we are to sensitise our society that the HIV/AIDS victims in our midst are not to be stigmatised or discriminated against in any way.

To give full effect to this 3-pronged approach requires an unprecedented response. It requires communities, the public and the private sectors, international organizations and non-governmental groups to come together in concerted and coordinated actions. Only when all these forces join in a common effort will we be able to expand our fight against the pandemic to decrease risk, vulnerability, and impact. All of us must be open about HIV, and raise our voices against stigma and discrimination. All of us must rise above prejudices and doctrinal disputes. The only acceptable result is that we replace suffering with hope.

This is a challenge to everyone; the individual, families, communities, social and religious leaders, the media, UN System Organization, NGOs and indeed, all of us. The "ABC" prevention approach (Abstinence, Being Faithful and reducing number of Sexual Partners, and Condom use) is becoming insufficient for many women in developing countries. My government advocates for additional strategies to address gender inequalities in order for us to turn back the tide of this pandemic. We need to ensure the reduction of women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS through the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls, including harmful traditional and customary practices, abuse, rape, and the battering and trafficking of our women and girls.

My Government is actively engaged in intervention measures to prevent and control this scourge.

My Government has provided and purchased Antiretroviral drugs and other drugs for the treatment of opportunistic infections valued at over Le529 million. These drugs are available free of charge at the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat. We are also now constructing a Reference Laboratory at Lakka. This will strengthen our capacity for diagnosis, immunology and treatment.

HIV/AIDS has been shown to have a devastating effect on the development of our country. I take this opportunity to refer to another matter which has become the bane of our country with strong potentials for destroying all our development aspirations, or at least retarding our development. That is the manner in which some Sierra Leoneans show their total lack of patriotism and their propensity to destroy the reputation of their own country to the extent that they prevent this country attracting any meaningful foreign investment. All this is only for their own personal gain. We have noticed that the practices which prevailed in 1967 whereby false, malicious and scandalous accusations were levied by one political party against another party solely for political reasons have emerged. The practice then was to peddle scaring rumours of cannibalism by one particular political party against another party. In fact a member of the party propagating the false stories was arrested, charged to court and convicted of ritual murder. He was duly executed. In effect the political party, the accuser, was the guilty party as it turned out.

The same political party embarked on the same practice just before the last local government elections. Their campaign was among other things that if they won the elections in Freetown they would ensure that the price of rice was reduced to Le20,000 per bag and that they would put a halt to the "operation free flow" exercise in which the Police were involved. They knew that they were misleading the public, and this soon became obvious as it was clearly not possible in the prevailing circumstance for any political party without more to reduce the price of rice as it then was or halt "the operation free flow." The fact that the whole idea was merely a political gimmick became obvious immediately after the elections. The obvious signs that the price of rice is now going down are attributable to the successful Government food security policy measures which even at these early stages are producing good results.

I have referred here to the manner in which members of the public can be misled by unscrupulous politicians whose only objective is to score political points whatever the adverse effect this may have on our country. This is as much a bane, a disease as HIV/AIDS is. We must uproot it. Let us limit politics strictly to policy issues rather than falsehood. The same practice relating to the discovery of corpses in the city of Freetown has started again as indeed it was in 1967. The police have now discovered the source and the motive for stage-managing this unfortunate situation. This is particularly harmful to the reputation of Sierra Leone at this time when we are expecting the Head of State of one of the wealthiest nations in the world to visit us with a huge delegation and the development and investment opportunity that may flow from such visit. Even developed countries look for opportunities to attract direct foreign investment which can only benefit their people and enhance their employment prospects. As we have decided to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS I ask all Sierra Leoneans to decide that as from today we shall together fight hard to maintain the good image and reputation of Sierra Leone and promote its development.

Fellow citizens, this is a new reality we are now confronted with. In the case of HIV/AIDS, we are all either INFECTED or AFFECTED. Together we shall confront, prevent, control and treat this pandemic. REMEMBER THAT EDUCATION IS THE BACKBONE OF PREVENTION. My advice to our women and more so to our young girls is to say "AVOID SITUATIONS OR CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MAY MAKE YOU ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF THIS DISEASE!

GOD BLESS US ALL!

-End-