Revealed! Gays Have The Highest HIV Prevalence In Salone

The Chairperson for Consortium for the Advancement of Rights for Key Affected Populations (CARKAP) Mrs. Marie Benjamin has said disclosed that Gays have the highest HIV/AIDs prevalence in Sierra Leone.

Madam Benjamin was addressing the media during a media round table discussion that took place yesterday 21st May, at GGEM which was supported by the Global Fund through the ministry of Health and Sanitation.
She went on to say from the survey they conducted in 2013 over twenty thousand gays are in the country and some of them are bisexual.
On the side of females that are practicing prostitution, Madam Benjamin revealed that over 240,000.00 (Two hundred and forty thousand) are in the country.
She spoke about the organisation which was formed some four years ago with the aim to advocating for the right of key affected population.
Their vision is to envisage a Sierra Leone where key affected population access quality health services in an enabling environment.
She said their mission is to improve the health, social, economic and other human condition of the neediest communities affected by the three diseases (AIDS, TB and Malaria) through community engagement.
She added further that, CARKAP strategy pillars are:
• Advocacy for social accountability
• Social mobilization, building community linkages, communication collaboration and coordination
• Institutional capacity building, planning and leadership development in community delivery service
• Community-based monitoring for accountability
• Resource mobilization
She noted that members of the consortium come from 15 organisations that are working together.
She encouraged media representatives to discuss issues surrounding their three objectives and give suggestions on how the media can improve their writing skills for the key affected people.
She emphasised that they are concerned about the human rights for the sex workers among other key affected people.
Also during the round table discussion, CARKAP Programme Manager Harry Ben Alpha did a presentation surrounding media coverage.
He said the 46-page paper, published by Panos on Africa states, reveals that tuberculosis (TB), particularly the science of HIV and TB co-infection, is highly neglected in terms of media coverage in Africa.
Below are summary of the presentation:
“In collaboration with other development partners, a rapid review was conducted of media coverage of HIV and AIDS/TB co-infections in Africa with the objective of identifying challenges and opportunities in improving reporting on these issues.
The report states that public awareness and clear understanding of these diseases are crucial to minimizing the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS and TB co-infections, and the media are a strategic resource in shaping and influencing public attitudes. The study found that there is an urgent need for a well-informed, reliable, and vigilant media to enhance the flow of HIV and AIDS/TB information to African audiences.
The media coverage of HIV and AIDS and TB issues is not sufficiently consistent and based on well-planned activities of the newsrooms. The coverage is highly event-driven and does not reflect a genuine interest on the part of the media houses to report on the issues with analytical depth. It falls short of providing human interest stories which show the consequences of the epidemics on individuals and families.
Little emphasis was given to the placement of HIV and AIDS and TB issues. Mostly, they appeared on inside pages - showing a lack of attention by the media.
The coverage is focused on prevalence and awareness issues, and reporters depend on government institutions as major sources for the stories.
Journalists lack experience, knowledge, and resources to pursue stories on these issues.
HIV &TB issues are considerably neglected by the newspapers and editorial staff members.
There are no coherent newsroom policies about sustaining coverage and no special health desks/health beats or columns dedicated to the subject of HIV and AIDS and TB.
Journalists face institutional, professional, and cultural and leadership challenges in covering HIV and AIDS and TB.
It is crucial for the media houses to incorporate HIV and AIDS and TB co-infection coverage in their editorial policies.
There is a need to sensitize media managers and owners to establish health desks or beats within their newsrooms and regular health columns in their publications.
Newspapers need institutional support as well as practical resources to serve the needs of their audiences in covering HIV and AIDS/TB co-infections.
The introduction of media forums, competitions, awards, and sponsorships would be effective ways to encourage journalists and media houses to produce quality reporting on the issue.
The quality of coverage can be improved by enhancing the technical training of journalists.”
Story by Ibrahim Joenal Sesay