THE RAINBOW NEWSPAPER - PAGE 4

A message from the grave by Dr Canisius Banda

From the outset, I should like to express my sincere gratitude to management of the local MAP team for affording me this privilege to address you this morning. First of all, I want to remind you just what privileged individuals you all are. By being pressmen and women you belong to that group of men and women that is made noble by what they do. Yours is a calling that represents a grand lifetime opportunity to serve humanity. You have the power to shoo humanity away from harm and usher it towards the requisite development. Yours is an occupation that demands sobriety of mind, keenness of thought, diligence, the ability to go against the wind for the sake of righteousness and the perseverance on an issue that comes only with an acute awareness of one’s objectivity. You must always be inspired by a passionate immersion of your journalistic minds in fact and truth. These are your Teflon jackets that will ensure that harm or shame does not come your way. And should harm come your way, it will elevate you to such heights before the eyes of man that you might become a deity.

Always respect that remarkable spirit of African tolerance that allows even the fool to heard. Even a lie well told as an accurate quote from your source makes for excellent journalism. But should your task of the day be the reflection of truth, note that the truth cannot be told any other way other than the truthful one.

Further, I am happy to note that that the MAP, which is a aggregation of various media entities, through its activities, augments other national efforts in strengthening Zambia’s advance towards development in general and towards the eradication of HIV/Aids from our midst in particular.

Note that I say eradication of HIV/Aids deliberately as a goal because falling short of that might be synonymous with burying our heads in the sand, of leaving the battlefront with the mistaken notion that the war has been won when the truth argues otherwise.

I must inform you that the MAP, like many other such entities, is a necessary fixture in the life of any nation. Never be cowered by or shun away from peddling fact, truth and objectivity when they offend this individual or that institution. Yours is a profession that has the power to control minds.

Always remember that it is difficult for one to hold an opinion that is against one’s own. For this reason, you must be ardent and fierce advocates of the legislation for dissent and dissenters. Commonly, it is because we hold different views on an issue that enlightenment dawns and consensus is built. There can be no development without dissent. The unity that results from different views is often stronger than each individual’s view. Dissent is a vital and indispensable ingredient of human advancement. Dissenters ought to be encouraged and protected by law.

Always ask questions. Be inquisitive. Yours is not a profession of parrotry. Oftentimes, I come across reporters whose lack of curiosity scares me. I get the impression that the future is not in safe hands by their behaviour. It is that kind of behaviour that betrays lack of critical fundamentals in the reporter which task really is that of the employer to weed the profession of such charlatans. Prove to your employers that you are worthy of their company. Editors, please do not pass copy that insults the intelligence of the reader.

We must all always seek to add value to ourselves and those that we serve, to strive to be assets for humanity.

 

 

 

 

Ask questions. Questions such as what mathematical model or epidemiological pattern of spread explains why HIV/Aids, which was not first seen in Africa, to now be domiciled in Southern Africa? What is HIV?

For it is only when we fully understand what we are up against that we will be best equipped to succeed. Any worthy General will tell you that an investment in studying and understanding the enemy represents a battle nearly won.

Ask why some people never develop AIDS despite having HIV? Ask about the value of nutrition in containing HIV.

Ask about the sustainability of an undertaking of having hundreds of thousands of people on drugs that they take for a lifetime? Also inquire about the sovereignty of such a people when such consumption is not locally financed. Ask questions, ladies and gentlemen. Ask why, as a country, we are not making ARVs despite having the capacity to do so. Why should pre-qualification of drugs take forever to do? Why is there paucity of research on traditional medicines?

When success has been scored also reflect that. It is through such news-casting that you will ensure peace of mind of communities, give them the perception that not all is gloom, and subsequently create models of behaviour to be emulated. Not all news ought to be negative. And please never sacrifice content for commercial pursuits or you will succeed only in reducing your newspapers into mere and shameful platforms of commerce. Zambia has over 50% of all the people that need ARVs now taking them. Report that!

You will note that it is by questioning the very existence of God that you discover Him! After all it is He that recognizes asking as a fundamental feature of human life.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is known that a pursuit undertaken alone is burdensome and its success doubtful whereas that faced through joint efforts is easier to attain and its success is not only assured but oftentimes sustainable as well. Recognize the value that lies in worthy partnerships. MAP epitomizes this. Unity is a vital fuel for development.

By knowing more than the average citizen on HIV/Aids and Gender workplace management, you will now transform yourselves into informed health and development actors for many others in fighting this pandemic.

The constituents that you will serve shall expect nothing less than worthy leadership from you, leadership that promises and assures success. Save your own lives in the process as well!

Take note that these survival guidelines that you are launching here will amount to nothing if you do not exert yourselves with the diligence and commitment that this war for our survival dictates.

We, the Zambians, are the primary warriors in this battle against HIV/Aids in our country. Though their support is welcome, this fight will not be fought with the valour that you must exhibit by others from alien lands on our behalf.

That you should arm yourselves with these requisite guidelines reflects very well the value and critical role of information and education if our Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) is to succeed. Do not fail this country!

 

 

 

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, you are mere human beings. You will find yourselves in compromising situations sometimes. You will be tempted to betray your mission for a quick buck. If you succumb, it will ruin you as an individual and as a journalist, and in the long run you will have treated humanity with disdain.

A quick buck is just that, it never lasts, but a good reputation will shield you from shame and will outlast you way after you have died. Never ever sell out!

Ladies and gentlemen, there is stigma out there. Stigma is a barrier to survival that you must further remove from the midst of the masses through your work.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is discrimination out their. Discrimination is yet another reflection of the ignorance that you must conquer if the mission statement of your newspaper (s) is to mean anything and if we are to achieve our national or global targets of securing our health.

Go and reiterate the importance of prevention. Mention that prevention alone is not effective when faced with a public health crisis such as HIV/Aids. Continue to lobby for universal treatment, treatment for all that need it. Sustain the political will which has made life-saving medicines in Zambia free of charge. Advocate the development of better remedies.

Continue to argue that with the volume of knowledge that the world today has the absence of a vaccine or cure ought to be an embarrassing reality for all humanity.

Shout till all corners of Zambia hear your voice that VCT will enable one to access survival! But also remember the VCT ultimately will translate into another client on ARVs and eventually this calls for an increase in health expenditure.

Dear colleagues, continue to ask vital questions. Never stop asking.

Ask, why should one die from HIV/Aids in today’s Zambia before one undergoes VCT and in the presence of free ARVs? Be moved at such sad events!

Ask, why should HIV positive persons in love be barred from marrying, and sometimes their unions are frowned upon by the very institutions that ought to embrace them with love and care, the churches, when the opportunity for having HIV negative children now exists?

Ladies and gentlemen, as you do your work you will meet:

HIV positive faithful wives

HIV positive children

HIV positive prisoners

HIV positive priests, reverends, deacons and pastors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will further buttress your view that HIV is a germ that can afflict anyone, whether titled or not. It will further prove to you that HIV/Aids is a disease of human beings in general and not only of the poor, those of colour, the promiscuous or the cursed.

AThough some detractors might mislead you by linking it to the sinfulness of an individual, be alert always to the need to view all those afflicted as people requiring your attention, your compassion, your care

Reach all with your messages of abstinence, faithfulness, condom usage, VCT and medications.

And, remember, not all will heed your call for survival. Do not be discouraged because you cannot listen on their behalf neither can you take the medicines on their behalf because the primary responsibility for acting for self-preservation, will always remain with the individual. Respect that!

But as journalists, you must never stop to pass on the good news that people need to hear for them to make informed choices about their lives.

In your respective workplaces, ensure that you passionately lobby for the support of your employers. Emphasize the message that if the employer does not get involved in fighting HIV/Aids, HIV/Aids might not only decimate the employees but it might also decimate the company or corporate entity as well.

HIV/Aids affects economies adversely. That we should focus on the workplace for our survival interventions is not only appropriate but it also betrays our awareness of the symbiotic relationship that ought to exist between employee and employer. One cannot exist without the other. Nonetheless, is the family that must be the primary focus for our survival!

Allow me to the thank the various media organizations which supported this meeting today. This is clear testimony that companies not only want to safeguard their profits, but that also as an act of corporate social responsibility, they genuinely care for their employees and families.

I commend the organizers of this launch for their hard work and dedication as they endeavor to live up to their standards of professional excellence.

Lastly, I want to share with you a message from the grave.

A dead child today says, journalist, where were you?

A dead priest today says, journalist, where were you?

A dead faithful wife says, journalist, where were you?

A skilled and hard working dead employee or work colleague says you could have saved me yesterday. Journalist, why didn’t you? The knowledge that you now have to save lives was there yesterday!

Never wait until it’s too late, ladies and gentlemen. HIV/Aids is a clear and present danger. It threatens the very existence of us as a people.

We have the knowledge and we are willing to fight it. Let us together as one nation, one region, one globe, fight it and again in victory re-assert our nobility and sovereignty as proclaimed in out National Anthem. Let us issue the battle cry that indeed we intend to survive and that we shall!

Dear colleagues, should we fail to survive HIV/Aids, should HIV/Aids survive us, let it not be without an impassioned fight. Let us pass on the baton for the need to survive to our children, until through them, victory is attained. You, journalists, that is your task. Go and conquer.

I, for one, know without doubt that the end of HIV/Aids is only a matter of time. Humanity shall survive this calamity. We shall see to that! God speed you all! I thank you!

This is a message shared by MINISTRY OF HEALTH SPOKESPERSON, DR CANISIUS BANDA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE MEDIA ACTION PLAN (MAP) POLICY ON HIV/AIDS and GENDER ZAMCM LODGE as an activity in the 1st December 2008, International AIDS Day in Lusaka, Zambia

 

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