Strategic approaches to eradicate the HIV/AIDS scourge

Guyana has successfully initiated approaches, compatible with the JSI/World Education Centre for HIV and AIDS formula, to addressing HIV/AIDS-related issues. These include, inter alia: engaging multi-sectoral organisations to combat the epidemic; strengthening the skills, talents and resources of local communities through participatory technical and organisational skills training; working with communities to stem the spread of HIV; targeting people and communities most at risk of contracting HIV; developing and adapting technical and organisational skills training for people at all levels of education and literacy; effectively monitoring and evaluating programmes; and documenting and disseminating best practices.
When Guyana’s beloved theatrical personality, Andre Sobryan, contracted the dreaded virus a couple of decades ago, hearts wept throughout the land and in many places beyond Guyana’s borders where Andre had made his mark and left his peculiar imprimatur.
Andre was an unabashed homosexual who did not impose his choices on anyone, but who respected the rights of all to make their own choices on their journey along the pathways of life.
The fateful diagnosis informing him about the imminent end to his life did not inhibit his zest for life. Instead, he packed even more activities into his days, and his creative juices flowed in overabundance.
The world of the creative arts – especially the fraternity of theatrical buffs – has never again been the same in Guyana since Andre’s passing at a relatively young age. Although his achievements are many, the most impactful of his contributions to Guyana’s society is that he was the first person to publicly acknowledge his status and thus contributed significantly to the health sector’s efforts to destigmatise the disease.
Over the years since Andre’s passing, Guyana has made great strides in combating the disease – in partnership with several organisations, especially the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
On December 11, 2008, the National AIDS Programme Secretariat of the Ministry of Health in Guyana (NAPS/MoH) convened a National Conference on “Faith-and-HIV”, in collaboration with UNAIDS, with the aim of engaging a coalition of faith-based organisations of all denominations all across Guyana to deal with issues of stigma and discrimination against those afflicted with HIV/AIDS and their families within communities.
Andre Sobryan began sending his message home through theatrical and audio-visual programmes. The initiative by NAPS/MoH/UNAIDS further humanised the afflicted and their families and helped to integrate them into their communities through their various houses of worship.
There are many persons who are followers, but few who are leaders, and there is no limit to what a good leader can achieve.
Many religious leaders preach on every subject under the sun and expound on religious philosophies during their discourses, but few transfer the rhetoric to action, which at times disillusions their congregations. However, the churches of the land could prove the most effective medium to take the message of compassion and goodwill to one’s fellow man, following the philosophy of “Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Impartation of information through this avenue proved another useful product of this joint initiative, because people living in remote locations were informed about formal healthcare and its accessibility; about their rights to access education, treatment, care, and support in a loving environment; that HIV is no longer a death sentence, but a treatable disease; that HIV-afflicted parents can have children free from HIV, among other facts useful in the prevention and treatment of the disease, and the way to treat HIV-affected persons with compassion that would not be discriminatory, but would rather enhance their lives.
“The response to HIV, in any country, is heavily dependent on the broad mobilisation of its leaders, institutions and movements. Faith leaders and their communities are present literally everywhere people live their lives – with enormous outreach as well as in-reach. They are important stakeholders in responding to HIV, as they have a strategic advantage in supporting, understanding and accepting people living with HIV, and in playing a crucial role in preventing new HIV infections,” said Dr Ruben del Prado, former UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Guyana.
Pioneers in this battle for life such as Andre Sobryan have left their efforts emblazoned on the lives of those who are taking responsibility and dealing with their disease in a mature way. Hopefully, this head-on approach would help to finally eradicate the disease in Guyana and, indeed, in every nation afflicted by this unrelenting plague.