The hall of the conference hall of Jos University Teaching Hospital was already full when I got in.I was almost not going to get a seat,but I was given a seat by the catering girls.Surely it is going to be a remarkable day with the turn out of people.The president of the Association of Resident Doctors JUTH chapter introduced the different guests.It was really an array of policy makers and NGOs linked with HIV/AIDS in Plateau State.Such a list wet my appetite in readiness for what was to come.When the guest speaker took the floor,he spoke with the convinction of someone who has seen it all.He spoke from the heart rather than from the head.No doubt his training in the theater arts helps in his delivery and oratory prowess,but he could not have given such an eloquent delivery if his heart was not in it.
His name is Phil Wilson,the president and founder of Black AIDS Institute in the U.S.According to him,he has been living with HIV for the past 26years.He started his speech with the joke of a man of faith who was stranded in the middle of the sea and prayed to God to help him survive.Despite the fact that God sent him three different boats,he refused all with the insistent that he was waiting for God to save him.Well he died and God blame him in heaven for his foolishness.Phil Wilson was able to draw an analogy with the issue of antiretroviral drugs use,safe practices both sexually and otherwise and voluntary testing to know ones HIV status.
Acording to him,HIV/AIDS has now become a black disease in all its ramification and we should not blame our denial on faith!He solicited for a global coordinated black mass movement in the fight against HIV/AIDS.He further emphasised that government cannot write our community plan for us,we must all take the responsibility to save our race.He further postulated that 'none of us is safe,until all of us are safe'.He ended his speech with a beautifully composed poem,but that is very touching indeed.
At the end of the speech a lot of questions were asked that bordered on the issue of stigmatization,his challenges over the years with the use of anti-retroviral drugs and how he has been able to cope over the years.He was able to conclude that he has been helped by the love of his family and friends.He concluded that all of us may not be infected,but all of us are affected because we have at least an acquitance who is infected!
Surely,mental health advocacy can draw an inspiration from Phil Wilson.It is high time people with mental illnesses who are now very insightful into their illness and are stable came out openly to educate others about mental illness.This is going to seriously reduce stigma about mental illnesses.Though mental illnesses do not have the capacity of wiping off a generation like AIDS,it however has the capacity of shattering dreams,and rendering unproductive the young and promising if not properly managed.Their are a lot of people in high places who have a form or the other of mental illness who are silent about it and secretly seek medical help.If such people come out openly to talk about their experience and that they have been able to function well with proper medication and follow up,a lot of the misconceptions about mental illnesses will be dispelled.
You can find out more about the activities of BlacK AIDS Institute in their website as follows; http://blackaids.org/.
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1 comment:
A very, very interesting post! I never put a color on hiv/aids, though. but, i'm in america where, the disease knows no color, race or religion...it just is. it's amazing though, that someone has been living with hiv, for 26 years. medicine has come a long way, since hiv has made it's presence known!
take care. you write beautifully, by the way!
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