Positive role models

Last week Nelson Mandela’s statue in Parliament Square was unveiled in the presence of the great man himself. In the months and years to come, I wonder how many people will notice the little ribbon adorning the lapel of that trademark Mandela shirt. The night before the unveiling, Nelson Mandela’s message warning Britain’s black leaders that they must play a key role in efforts to tackle conflict and under-achievement in the inner cities was delivered at a dinner attended by the great and the good of black Britain. The former South African president’s message urged the audience of high achievers to beware of cutting themselves off from the less fortunate and show that they are bringing their expertise and influence to bear.

‘It is important for you as leaders to harness those responsibilities and ensure that you also empower those around you who scale the mountains with you’, the message said. One area crying out for black leadership is the fight against HIV/AIDS. In this area too, Mandela has led from the front; disclosing to the world that his son had died of an AIDS related illness. The number of people living with HIV has risen from around 8 million in 1990 to nearly 40 million today, and is still growing. Around 63% of people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.1 In the UK as well as worldwide, black people are disproportionately affected. These statistics can sometimes blind us from the fact that HIV and AIDS is much closer to home than some of us may think.

From the early years, stigma and prejudice have accompanied the epidemic, bringing anxiety and discrimination against the groups most affected. 25 years into the epidemic and still people infected with the virus are marginalized and forced into living in fear and isolation. For those of us who know those depths, Mandela speaking out brought into public prominence the fact that people living with HIV and AIDS are part of ‘normal’ society. The more that is done to encourage the visibility of people with HIV/AIDS the closer we will be to making inroads into fighting the stigma and prejudice and in turn fighting the virus itself.

People living with HIV who become Positive Role Models, so to speak are cruicial in this fight.

Living Well is an organization that seeks to enable people to both meet the challenge of living with HIV and support participants achieve their own goals by completing the Positive Self Management Programme (PSMP). One of the key aspects of the success of the PSMP is that people living with HIV are delivering the sessions. The programme has been running in the UK for some time and 18 months ago Living Well went to Africa. The outcome was amazing mainly because for many they realised that they were not on this journey alone and that is what Living Well is about.

1 Worldwide HIV/AIDS statistics from AVERT. www.avert.org/worldstats.htm
Accessed on 03/09/07

Back: HIV