By Richard Luo in Sinda
THE Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in Eastern Province is confident that the Zambian government will not allow any citizen receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) to die as a result of the decision by the United States (US) to suspend aid to other countries’
Sinda district coordinator Bodmass Banda said government could not allow people to die as a result of lack of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).
Banda said in an interview US president Donald Trump’s decision to halt aid to African countries was not inspiring hope to Africa as a global leader.
He said despite being in a different continent, any leader should respect and love all human beings regardless of race, tribe or ethnic group.
Banda said the aid freeze by the US simply showed how bad it could be to re-elect a leader once voted out.
“Their coming back isn’t good but to damage things that sustain the lives of others. Trump’s type of leadership isn’t good. To halt foreign aid like the supply of ARVs, the drugs which have been sustaining the lives of people for many years and for him to suspend that shows that he is not a good leader. It’s in that vein that we say it’s not good to bring back leaders that once left office because their coming back isn’t fruitful but to injure and destroy others. I wish Trump could reflect on where he is going and his come-back,” Banda said.
He was worried that if access to ARVs would become a challenge in Africa like Zambia, then the lives of those on ART would be challenging because defaulting was not allowed among those on ARVs.
“The life of people living with HIV/AIDS will be so difficult because they already started taking them and stopping isn’t a good thing at all as it complicates the immune system. This will affect the health status of our people,” said.
He urged government to start planning how it would sustain and support its people currently on ARVs.
Banda suggested that government start prioritizing the procurement of the ARVs in the national budget.
“As Africa, we need now to start deciding heavenly on how people on ARVs will be assisted since foreign aid isn’t helping. Here in Zambia, we should look for money to buy drugs from whichever countries will be making them. As a country let’s start buying,” he said.
Banda, who is also district budget advocacy group president, assured people living with HIV/AIDS that the government would not let them down because it had announced that it would rise to the occasion.
“Government has said it won’t let people on ART to die. Government can’t let or allow a lot of people to die. It will do the right thing. If government fails it will tell us that it has failed, but I can assure you I know as a government they can’t fail. Let’s just wait for what the government will decide,” Banda said.
