Zuma's Aids shower: Confusion in South Africa
Jacob Zuma’s testimonies during his court case cause a lot of confusion amongst South Africans. Many people don’t know what and who to believe anymore. Especially when it comes to HIV/AIDS.
What causes most confusion is Zuma’s excuse why he had sex with a woman of whom he knew she was HIV positive. He said he didn’t put his life in jeopardy after having sex with the 31-year old family friend, who happens to be an HIV activist, because he thought the chance of transmitting was “very minimal” because he was a healthy man.
“And I also took a shower,” Zuma, who used to be the chairperson of the South Africa National Aids Council, added last week.
One of the signs of the wide spread confusion amongst South Africans, especially amongst those who didn’t recieve the right education in the first place, is the great number of phone calls received by the National Aids helpline. The NGO said it is being flooded by calls from confused South Africans who don’t know what to believe anymore.
In an interview with the daily newspaper The Star, Hope Mhlongo of the helpline said that women called to ask whether or not they should take a shower after being raped to reduce their risk of HIV infection. “We have to explain to them that this not only does nothing to reduce their risk but instead gets rid of vital evidence that they would need when they laid a rape charge," Mhlongo said.
Zuma’s statement is another blow for the hard work of NGO’s as the South African Aids helpline, an organization that tries very hard to sow Aids awareness in a country where the misconceptions around this horrific disease are plenty. Many NGO’s and doctors in South Africa have said to be are afraid that Zuma’s statement will feed risky sexual behaviour, and that a simple shower will be seen as the newest weapon against AIDS.
It makes me angry. Instead of contributing to the massive Aids problem in his country, a problem that is being fed by many misconceptions, Zuma adds to the list by inventing another myth …
Miriam Mannak / Cape Town
What causes most confusion is Zuma’s excuse why he had sex with a woman of whom he knew she was HIV positive. He said he didn’t put his life in jeopardy after having sex with the 31-year old family friend, who happens to be an HIV activist, because he thought the chance of transmitting was “very minimal” because he was a healthy man.
“And I also took a shower,” Zuma, who used to be the chairperson of the South Africa National Aids Council, added last week.
One of the signs of the wide spread confusion amongst South Africans, especially amongst those who didn’t recieve the right education in the first place, is the great number of phone calls received by the National Aids helpline. The NGO said it is being flooded by calls from confused South Africans who don’t know what to believe anymore.
In an interview with the daily newspaper The Star, Hope Mhlongo of the helpline said that women called to ask whether or not they should take a shower after being raped to reduce their risk of HIV infection. “We have to explain to them that this not only does nothing to reduce their risk but instead gets rid of vital evidence that they would need when they laid a rape charge," Mhlongo said.
Zuma’s statement is another blow for the hard work of NGO’s as the South African Aids helpline, an organization that tries very hard to sow Aids awareness in a country where the misconceptions around this horrific disease are plenty. Many NGO’s and doctors in South Africa have said to be are afraid that Zuma’s statement will feed risky sexual behaviour, and that a simple shower will be seen as the newest weapon against AIDS.
It makes me angry. Instead of contributing to the massive Aids problem in his country, a problem that is being fed by many misconceptions, Zuma adds to the list by inventing another myth …
Miriam Mannak / Cape Town
posted by Miriam Mannak at
16:13
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