AIDS discrimination features in presidential race

As Zambia heads towards general elections on Thursday, a controversy over the proposed banning of HIV-positive presidential candidates has shown how much further the country needs to go in tackling stigma and ignorance, AIDS activists told IRIN. The call for testing and banning was first made by the former party chief of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Michael Sata. It was seen as an attempt to "out" key opponents among the 11 presidential candidates, seven of whom were former MMD ministers. Surprisingly, several non-governmental organisations echoed the call. The Zambia Independent Monitoring Team led by Alfred Zulu said that although there was no law compelling anyone to be tested, HIV-positive presidential candidates should withdraw in the "national interest" to "save" state resources. Mike Zulu (no relation) of the National Organisation for Civic Education also said it was not right for someone "not well" to stand. "Just like we would not like to have someone with cancer or any other kind of debilitating illness to be in state house. It would be a costly exercise to pay huge medical bills and eventually hold another election," he observed. With an adult infection rate of 19 percent, HIV/AIDS should be on the political agenda of Zambia's 27 December general elections. But the testing controversy was not the way activists imagined the issue would be raised. According to human rights lawyer Judy Mbewe, the furore, however, was a red herring. She pointed out there was no need to have an HIV test if the only reason was to determine someone's mental capacity and physical well being. "Everything is covered in the statutes. The requirements of a presidential candidate or political office holder are clear and include being mentally and physically fit so where does the testing for HIV come in? This is purely a political gambit and should be treated with the contempt it deserves," she told PlusNews. However, three aspirants - businessman Anderson Mazoka, pentecostal minister Nevers Mumba, and born-again Christian Godfrey Miyanda - said they would volunteer for testing. The others (and apparently the main targets of the ruling party) confined themselves to personal declarations of being "fit", while claiming to suffer "minor ailments" such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Nevers Mumba, televangelist and president of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) said it was important to show himself willing to be tested to prove his "moral uprightness" and his lack of fear of testing positive. He urged the others to do the same. But Winston Zulu, who has been living with AIDS (PWA) for over 10 years, said the arguments for testing in the context of the political campaign did not make sense. He cited himself as an example. He has lived symptom-free for over a decade which means he could have run for presidency in the last two elections, and even sought a third term. Zulu told PlusNews that it was discrimination that was infectious. "If you start discriminating [against] PWAs at the presidency, it will go down to the lowest level and soon even an office orderly will be required to undergo a test before being employed." He added that if PWA's were going to stopped from contesting the presidency, then they would also be stopped from doing many other things. "The next thing you know there will be ethnic cleansing". The proposed banning of HIV-positive candidates was "backward thinking". "After all, we have talked about HIV and positive living it is amazing that seemingly enlightened people whom we allow to lead us can come up with such a frightening display of ignorance," he noted. Gertrude Shamapande, a human rights activist running a voluntary testing and counselling centre said if it were any other social group, she would have been pleased with the call for testing, but not in this instance. She said it smacked of blackmail. What she would have preferred is greater political will to curb the spread of AIDS by politicians. "The problem is not whether our president is HIV-positive, it is how to prevent it spreading. Politicians who are supposed to enlighten and lead by example have continued their knee jerk response to the pandemic," Shamapande said.