FEAR NOT, SAYS ZAMBIA'S PRESIDENT LUNGU.

STEVEN MVULA and MWAPE MWENYA, Lusaka

ZAMBIANS must not fear the newly proclaimed mandatory HIV/ AIDS testing because results, whether positive or negative, will remain confidential between them and their medical practitioners, President Lungu has said.
And the Ministry of Health has said there is no justification or human right in killing yourself by not knowing your HIV status and neither is it a human right to infect others.
President Lungu says he is surprised that some people have misconstrued the mandatory HIV/AIDS testing policy meant to protect ordinary people as something that will make results public.
“People should not be scared to test because they will live longer if they know their HIV status. I wish to clarify that Government declared to the public that we will be examining you whether you want it or not and we will counsel you and tell you that you are HIV-positive and treat you. And that will remain between you and your medical practitioner,” President Lungu said.
He was addressing journalists yesterday at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport shortly before he left for Rwanda to attend today’s inauguration of Paul Kagame, as re-elected President.
President Lungu said he decided to personally comment on the matter because he is getting the impression that when one is found HIV-positive, then those results will be made public.
“Confidentiality remains part of the ethics of the medical practitioners. When we speak to you, we speak in clear and calculated language. We will check for HIV/AIDS, we will counsel you whether you are positive or negative. If you are positive we will treat you if you warrant treatment. That is what I said,” President Lungu said.
He challenged those wishing to take legal action over the matter to do so.
“Some people are saying ‘we will go to court’. Go to court if you want. But me as President, it is my responsibility to ensure Zambians live long, healthy, quality lives. But others are saying it is their constitutional right to privacy. Even in Cabinet they respect the issue of privacy,” President Lungu said.
He said as medical practitioners are taking vital statistics from patients, HIV/AIDS tests will also be undertaken.
The President said Zambians should learn to listen and talk less.
“You are saying ‘Lungu is a dictator’ because he wants to help you by knowing your HIV status so that if your viral load is already beyond, then you are put on medication. Your family needs you, Zambia needs you, if some people do not care about you,” President Lungu said.
He was seen off by Vice-President Inonge Wina, Patriotic Front secretary general Davies Mwila and some ministers.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya says 81 percent of deaths at the University Teaching Hospital are HIV-related, and one million Zambians have died from HIV and AIDS since 1988.
Dr Chilufya said 1.2 million Zambians are HIV positive and less than 85 percent are on anti-retroviral treatment.
He said the American Government, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has approved US$401 million for HIV treatment in Zambia.
He said that the Global Fund has also given Zambia US$270 million HIV treatment.
Dr Chilufya warned that Government will deregister health personnel who disclose confidential information about the status of individuals without their consent.
He said the decision should not be misinterpreted as an infringement of human rights as it is aimed at protecting people’s lives.
“Who tells you it’s your human right to kill yourself by not testing? Is it also a human right to infect a young girl? We will not continue doing things the same and expect positive results,” he said.
The minister said this yesterday at the Patriotic Front (PF) media interactive forum.
He said HIV mandatory testing is aimed at saving people’s lives and it should not in any way be politicised.

SOURCE:
http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/fear-not-says-lungu/

Comments

CUBA CLAIMS CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER IS FIDEL CASTRO'S SON.

The suicide note left by Fidel Castro’s eldest son has rocked the Cuban nation this week, with the most astonishing revelation being the claim that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was his half-brother and the son of the late Fidel Castro. The handwritten note left by Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, the eldest of Fidel Castro’s children, appears to confirm the longstanding rumor in Cuba that Fidel Castro fathered Justin Trudeau after a public tryst with Margaret Trudeau in 1970. “ Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been attended by a group of doctors for several months due to a state of profound depression, committed suicide this morning ,” Cubadebate website reported. The death of the high-profile government nuclear scientist, also known as “Fidelito”, or Little Fidel, because of how much he looked like his father, stunned the nation, however it is his “ explosive ” suicide note that has set tongues wagging in Havana. Amid a wide-ranging barrage of compl...

MALARIA VACCINE PROVES HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN BURKINA FASO.

A vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months. The hunt for a malaria vaccine has been going on the best part of a century. One, the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, has been through lengthy clinical trials but is only partially effective, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among small children in Africa over four years. It is being piloted by the World Health Organization in parts of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. The Oxford vaccine is the first to meet the WHO goal of 75% efficacy against the mosquito-borne parasite disease. Larger trials are now beginning, involving 4,800 children in four countries. Prof ...

MINERS IN NAMIBIA DISCOVER SHIPWRECK LOADED $13 MILLION WORTH OF GOLD.

Image: Dieter Noli. Diamond miners working off the coast of Africa were beyond surprised when they discovered a 500-year-old shipwreck teeming with gold worth $13 million and other treasures. The ship, aptly named ‘Bom Jesus’ or ‘Good Jesus,’ was like a miracle to the miners. Bom Jesus was first identified and discovered by geologists working for the mining company De Beers in 2008. It was found off the coast of Namibia near Oranjemund. Image: Dieter Noli. According to experts, Bom Jesus is from the Golden era of Portuguese explorers who set sail in all directions in search of new lands to colonize. The ship left Lisbon in 1533 under the supervision of Sir Francisco de Noronha. But on its way to India, it mysteriously vanished. Before the discovery, the miners were draining an artificial salt lake. As the lake dried out, many lost ships were found at the bottom of the lake. Bom Jesus was among them, and it is considered the oldest of all ...

BEES 'ARRESTS' SUSPECTED THIEVES IN UGANDA.

Bees 'handcuffed' one of the suspects around the wrist, while another had the TV set reportedly stuck on his hands. Image: Daily Monitor. Kampala, UGANDA: Two burglars who are suspected to have stolen a television set in Sofiia village, Busia Town in eastern Uganda are in police custody after they were attacked by a swarm of bees. Like police would handcuff a suspect, a swarm of bees mobbed the hands of one of the suspects, while another reportedly had the TV set stuck on his hands as they returned the stolen items to where they had been picked from. Ms Rashida Jowelia, the owner of the property, said her TV set was stolen from her house last Friday, but she decided to seek the services of a medicine man in Sofia Village rather than report the matter to police. The suspects were identified as Wycliffe Kinara and Richard Duki, both Kenyan nationals from Nakuru. Bees 'handcuffed' one of them around the wrist, while another had the TV set reportedly stuck on his hands...

DEREK CHAUVIN TO BE CHARGED OVER ANOTHER 2017 INCIDENT.

New York, U.S: The Department of Justice is reportedly considering charging Derek Chauvin in a 2017 incident involving a Black teenager that came to light while prosecutors were preparing the George Floyd murder case against the former Minneapolis cop. The DOJ’s investigation focuses on footage of Chauvin striking a 14-year-old so hard that he needed stitches to close the wound, then kneeling on him for almost 17 minutes — mostly putting pressure on his upper back — as the youngster complained he couldn’t breathe, ABC News reported. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes before the 46-year-old Black man died May 25, 2020 after begging for air. Chauvin was convicted of his murder Tuesday. Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder on Tuesday. (AP) A state prosecutor wrote of the 2017 incident that “videos show a far more violent and forceful treatment of this child than Chauvin describes in his report,” yet no action was taken against him. ABC News reported t...

MAN SAVED FROM POISONING BY DRINKING 15 CANS OF BEER.

Doctors in north-central Vietnam used 15 cans of beer to save the life of a man suffering from alcohol poisoning and yes, you read that correctly. Nguyen Van Nhat, 48, was taken to Quang Tri General Hospital on Christmas after allegedly consuming alcoholic drinks that contained methanol, a highly toxic form of alcohol. So doctors immediately gave him three cans of beer. Le Van Lam, head of the hospital’s intensive care unit, explained that the beer was administered in order to slow down the rate at which Nhat’s liver was processing the methanol, according to Vietnamese newspaper Tuổi Trẻ. Nguyen Van Nhat is treated for methanol poisoning at a hospital in Quang Tri Province in north-central Vietnam. Image: Tuoi Tre Essentially, there are two types of alcohol: ethanol and methanol. The former is a primary ingredient in both fermented and distilled alcoholic beverages—the stuff that makes you feel drunk in small doses and sick in large doses—although it doesn’t typi...

THOUSANDS OF FAKE COVID-19 VACCINES HAVE BEEN SEIZED IN SOUTH AFRICA & CHINA.

File photo - Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock Image: africanews. Lyon, FRANCE: Police have seized thousands of counterfeit coronavirus vaccines in South Africa and China and have made more than 80 arrests after a criminal network selling fake jabs was uncovered, Interpol said on Wednesday. In South Africa, police officers found 400 ampoules of fake vaccines, equivalent to around 2,400 doses, at a warehouse just outside Johannesburg. A large quantity of fake 3M masks was also found and police arrested three Chinese nationals and a Zambian national. Police in South Africa seized hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccines and made several arrests following a global alert issued by INTERPOL. In China, police successfully identified a network selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines, raided the manufacturing premises, resulting in the arrest of some 80 suspects, and seized more than 3,000 fake vaccines on the scene. The investigation was supported and coordinated by Interpol’s Illicit Goods ...

DELE ALLI BOOED BY NIGERIAN FANS AFTER CHOOSING TO PLAY FOR ENGLAND OVER NIGERIA.

London, ENGLAND: Nigeria fans booed Dele Alli at Wembley because he was playing for England and not them. The Tottenham star has a Nigerian father, but he was born in England and has lived in the country since birth. Bamidele Jermaine Alli (born 11 April 1996), better known as Dele Alli, is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. Image: NGN. Loud boos echoed around the stadium when Alli touched the ball during the World Cup warm-up match. Alli made it clear from the off that he would pursue his international career with the Three Lions. He progressed through the youth ranks and made several appearances at Under-17 and Under-18 level. England fans flocked to Twitter to defend the 22-year-old star, with one stating: "Dele Alli is getting booed for playing for England rather than Nigeria, guys he was born in Milton Keynes." Alli did not let th...

LECTURER ARRESTED FOR GIFTING BOMB TO NEWLY-WED COUPLE, KILLING THE GROOM.

The wedding of Soumya and Reema in the city of Bolangir in India’s eastern state of Odisha was solemnized in February this year like any other Indian wedding, except for a surprise gift they received five days after the wedding, which ended their short-lived marital bliss. New Delhi (Sputnik) — Police in India's eastern state of Odisha claim to have cracked the sensational parcel bomb wedding gift case after two months of investigation. The police said that after looking at the many aspects of the case, they zeroed in on Punjilal Meher, a colleague of the groom's mother who has reportedly confessed to have packed a bomb and sent to it the newly-wed couple wishing them a happy married life. The incident took place on February 23 this year, five days after Soumya and Reema tied the knot. They received a parcel from an unknown sender. When opened, the parcel exploded, killing Soumya on the spot, while Reema and another family member were severely burnt. The Odish...

MIKE TYSON IS STARTING A MARIJUANA EMPIRE IN CALIFORNIA.

Image: PA/Rex/Getty) Mike Tyson is starting the New Year with green on his mind, because he’s leading the charge on a cannabis resort that aims at not only producing high quality strains of THC and CBD, but also implementing cutting-edge technology to advance the research on the health benefits of marijuana. California has become the largest state in the US to legalise recreational cannabis use. As of 1 January 2018, adults aged over 21 can possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of the drug and can grow up to six marijuana plants at home. Opponents say the law will lead to more driving under the influence of the drug and introduce young people to drug use. But business is eyeing what could be an industry worth tens of billions of dollars in the next few years. On December 20, the former Heavyweight Champ broke ground on a 40-acre plot of land in California City, a remote desert about 60 miles southwest of Death Valley National Park. He was joined ...

Kioo17 Journal

Search This Blog