2010: Men and HIV

Willemien Brümmer

Summary of research:

Men who stay and men who leave:

In previous research I undertook at the paediatric HIV/AIDS service of the Groote Schuur hospital, nine out of ten HIV-positive mothers were single parents. In most of the cases their boyfriends or husbands had left them after they had disclosed their status, blaming the woman for “bringing HIV into this house”. Men are also seen as recalcitrant testers who in some cases revert to a form of “proxy testing” to gauge their status: according to recent research they test for HIV by making their partners pregnant.

During my research I will focus on the reasons why men leave their families to gain an in depth and empathic understanding of the choices men make in the face of the epidemic. I will also look at a group of men who have chosen not to deny their HIV-positive status and to stay in an HIV-positive household.

Biography:

Willemien Brümmer is an award winning journalist who works for By, a features supplement and opinion page that comes out on Saturdays with Die Burger, Beeld and Volksblad. Previously she worked for the now defunct INSIG magazine. She also worked as a medical writer for Die Burger with a special interest in HIV/AIDS.

She recently published her first book of short stories, Die dag toe ek my hare losgemaak het, with Human & Rousseau.

Lungi Langa

Summary of research:

The role of men in PMTCT/Involving men in PMTCT:

Prevention of mother to child transmission has succeeded in saving babies that could have died unnecessarily.  However, this intervention like many others including family planning has been made to be a woman’s responsibility and has added to their burdens.

Men have over the years been left out of health programmes and have also isolated themselves from the things that concern the health of their partners and families.

Involving men not only in the general prevention of HIV but in PMTCT specifically could significantly increase the success of PMTCT. In most instances women are often afraid of revealing their status to their partners after testing HIV positive. This has been the reason why some don’t seek PMTCT, some mix feed, among other things that hamper the success of the programme.

At the end of the research I hope find out whether men are ready to accept the invitation to get involved in saving their babies and supporting their partners. I will also look at the challenges that men face when involving themselves and supporting their partners who are accessing antenatal care.

Biography:

Lungi Langa is a young, aspiring health journalist working for a non- profit health news agency called Health-e. In the short period that she has been with Health-e she has written on a variety of health issues ranging from HIV, TB, N1H1 flu pandemic as well as the doctors’ strike.

She completed her Journalism Diploma at the Durban University of Technology in KwaZulu Natal in 2006. She served as a Media intern at Art for Humanity (AFH), a non-profit organisation specialising in HIV/AIDS, women and children’s rights and Human rights.

In her writing she strives to capture the human aspect of their stories by portraying their day to day struggles, challenges as well as triumphs as they fight off prejudice and stigma still attached to the diseases. By telling their life stories and giving them a face she hopes it will contribute towards eradicating a mindset that has reduced them to mere ‘statistics’.

Wilson Johwa

Summary of research:

South Africa has set the very ambitious goal of halving new infections of HIV by 2011. This means the country is aiming to meet the relevant millennium development goal four years before 2015, the targeted year. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has emphasized that prevention is key to reversing the epidemic and achieve treatment, care and mitigation targets. If new infections are not contained then the rising costs of treatment and care will be overwhelming and unachievable. Already South Africa has almost a million people on treatment and health minister Aaron Matsoaledi on March 9, 2010, said he was worried that South Africans do not appreciate that prevention is the best action against HIV/AIDS.

During my fellowship I will examine some of the planned prevention methods as well as unpack their inherent socio-economic and cultural implications. Many discussions have reflected on the tension between a bio medical prevention regimen and a socio-behavioural change model, both of which I wish to explore, making reference to impediments in regional efforts in fighting the epidemic. New prevention strategies being planned, such as male circumcision and proposed new microbicide trials (by Wits’ Reproductive Health and Research Unit), suggest that significant emphasis is being placed on bio-medical interventions. I wish to examine the social and cultural aspects of the latter, while also juxtaposing long term social and behaviour change strategies targeting men.

Biography:

Wilson Johwa is a journalist working as Political Correspondent for Business Day newspaper in Johannesburg. He holds a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand and has 14 years media experience working mainly in Zimbabwe and South Asia.