Panafrican News Agency (Dakar) - February 8, 2001
Speaking Wednesday at the start of a two-day seminar on HIV/AIDS management training, the forum chairman, Solomo Hepundjua said some churches had convinced their followers that the spirit of God would cure them of AIDS.
He said some traditional healers also were misleading men by advising that going to bed with virgins could keep the disease away.
Hepundjua urged traditional leaders to abandon such practices as wife inheritance which also contributed to the spread of the AIDS virus.
Since medical scientists have not been able to come up with a cure for AID, Hepundjua said it is the responsibility of political parties, churches, sports organisations and traditional healers, to help fight the scourge through prevention by the use of condoms or discouraging sexual promiscuity.
Hepundjua said it was wrong for political parties to fight for votes and ignore the imminent catastrophe which the epidemic could cause.
He called on donor agencies and other non-governmental organisations in Namibia to help the people of the region fight against the spread of the AIDS virus. Observing that the behaviour of travellers and truck drivers plying the Trans Kalahari Highway was likely to fuel AIDS spread in Omaheke area, Hepundjua urged the municipality of Gobabis to allocate a plot for construction of a parking lot for trucks.
When a parking lot is constructed, he said, the Youth Forum would distribute condoms to those visiting the spot.
The seminar was intended to sensitise people of the region about the AIDS epidemic. Participants included church leaders, councillors, traditional leaders and youth groups from six constituencies of Omaheke.
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