Inter Press Service - December 17, 2002
Almahady Cisse

The activist, Modibo Kane, who is the president of the Malian Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, says "all those having the virus have been victims of discrimination and stigmatisation".

Kane says the Malian justice system provides no legal protections to those who have HIV/AIDS.

Out of a population of 10.5 million, Mali has 6,846 people living with HIV/AIDS. Of that figure, 3,864 are women and 2,971 men, according to a 2001 survey by the ministry of health.

The Malian authorities have declared December Anti-AIDS month in recognition of Global AIDS Day, celebrated every Dec 1. This year's theme was "The Fight against Stigma and Discrimination".

Aissaata Sacko, president of the Association of AIDS Widows and Orphans, says "when employers find out about their workers' HIV status, they fire them without recourse; women and their children are frequently abandoned by their extended families when it emerge that the head of household died from AIDS".

Women, who resist such treatment, are often subjected to abuse, she says.

Those who have been abused include an AIDS widow who, after repeated warnings to vacate, found that her landlord removed the roof of the house in the middle of the rainy season. "In such situations, we don't know who to complain to," Sacko told Malian president, Amadou Toumani Toure on Dec 1.

"This fact is connected to the legal vacuum around HIV/AIDS in Mali, to ignorance about how the disease is contracted, and to the poverty afflicting the majority of the people living with HIV/AIDS," says Kane.

Kane also questioned the effectiveness of the Malian Initiative for Anti-Retroviral drugs. "After a year of operation, the Initiative has provided drugs to fewer than 400 people out of the initial 1,700 people who needed it," he says.

The Initiative was set up last year by the government to offer access to people living with the virus. Through the programme, one could buy anti-retroviral drugs at the reduced price of 90,000 CFA (about 138 U.S. dollars), instead of the 400,000 CFA (about 615 U.S. dollars).

Those on treatment undergo numerous tests every four months. These tests alone cost around 25,000 CFA (about 38 U.S. dollars). "Most people with AIDS have low incomes and live in extremely precarious situations, so practically no one is able to afford this treatment, which is so vital not only for their health but also for their survival," says Kane.

Sixty-nine percent of Malians live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Kane has urged the government to declare AIDS a public health threat and to provide drugs against opportunistic diseases, and anti-retroviral treatment for all Malians living with HIV/AIDS.

President Toure says the idea of legal protections for people living with HIV/AIDS would be studied and discussed soon.

"But, to win the war against AIDS, the vast majority of the 'weapons' (medication, funding), just like the decision of what strategies to follow, are outside Mali, indeed outside Africa," says Toure, paraphrasing a French humanitarian: "The patients are in the south but the medicine is in the north".

"Our brothers and sisters who have HIV and AIDS expect more compassion from us. They need comfort, support, and a friendly ear; in short, a helping hand and medication," says Toure.

He calls for "attitude change" to combat discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Mali.(END/IPS/AF/HE/TRA-FRE/AC/SZ/MN/02)

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