Campaign Focus: Zambia

none 14 Mar 2007 – 7:46 (modified on 12 Jul 2007 – 13:46)

by mlepeska

© Mel Hein, TALC
Leaders of TALC protesting over false newspaper claims of miracle AIDS cure

Universal Access on treatment, care, prevention and support in Zambia seems a very distant goal. As part of the “3x5” campaign the Zambian government committed to treating 100,000 people by 2005. So far only 76,000 Zambians are receiving treatment. It’s another country where politicians are not keeping their promises on AIDS.

In 2007, WAC will work closely with civil society groups in Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya, as part of WAC’s support to national campaigners in sub-Saharan Africa. This March, Felicita Hikuam and Thomas Scalway of the WAC Support Team visited Zambia to find out how to support civil society in their work with government to make sure these promises, and others, are kept. The visit to Zambia follows a number of visits in previous years by WAC and precedes trips to Nigeria and Kenya later this month. In this newsletter we share a few of the reflections that this trip gave rise to.

Zambia is a challenging country for civil society efforts on AIDS. According to Malala Mwondela from Zambia AIDS Law Research and Advocacy Network (ZARAN), “it is difficult for civil society to engage meaningfully with government. The mechanisms that exist are largely government controlled and advocacy is frowned upon.”

According to Pablo Sichalwe from ZARAN, "the rights of people living with HIV are not protected.” The Zambian constitution drafted in 1991 has no mention of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. Two years ago this constitution was updated, but is yet to be formally adopted. In effect what this means is that Zambian activists are unable to use the law courts to pressurise governments to provide adequate care and protection for people living with HIV. In South Africa, it was by working with the law courts that Treatment Action Campaign and its partners forced the government to provide AIDS treatments. ZARAN has been one of the many agencies putting pressure on the President demanding that the constitution be adopted. Yet the President has recently been declaring in the media that due to the current flooding in Zambia, adopting the constitution is “not a priority”.

In the absence of a modern constitution, say ZARAN, the Zambian National AIDS Policy provides the most meaningful framework for holding government accountable for their promises on AIDS. Yet this policy, drafted in 2001, was only adopted in 2005, despite sustained pressure from civil society. With the fast pace of developments in treatment, prevention and international AIDS policy, the new AIDS policy is already out of date.

There are countless examples of why Zambia is a difficult country in which to advocate to the government on AIDS issues. According to Professor Luo, Chair of Society of Women Against AIDS in Zambia, and an ex-minister herself, who is widely regarded as a leader on a number of AIDS issues, "there are a number of structures now in place that make it difficult to go and talk to ministers.” She gives the example of the ministers' social secretaries, who shield any minister from unplanned conversations with AIDS lobbyists. Luo says, "There was a time when you could talk to ministers about your concerns. Now that is not possible."

According to Professor Luo, there is a deep mistrust between the Zambian government and NGOs. NGOs think that the government is against civil society and is misspending funds. It’s an understandable assumption when looking at the countless gleaming jeeps outside the National AIDS Council that AIDS money seems to be amassing. At the same time, the government distrusts NGOs, questioning their heavy international funding which they say is often used to undermine or critique government efforts.

Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC) is working in Zambia to lobby for better access to treatment, care and support for people living with HIV. Registered in 2005, and only acquiring office space in 2006, this is a small new organisation with a big voice.

One of the reasons why TALC is an exciting organisation within the Zambian civil society landscape is because they are not afraid to be openly critical of government. According to Felix Mwanza, Director of TALC, “there is systematic exclusion of civil society in Zambian AIDS decision making.” TALC members feel they have a right to speak out about the treatment problems in Zambia, including accessing drugs, changing treatment lines and gaining the representation of their needs to decision makers. In November 2006 TALC joined with other civil society groups and people living with HIV to raise concerns about the way in which Global Fund money is spent. Zambia was refused funding in round six of the Global Fund call for proposals because a large amount of existing Global Fund money was unspent. TALC has put pressure on principal recipients of Global Fund money to publish their funding status in the media, and now since working with other civil society partners to create transparency on the situation.

A good illustration of the challenges of independent civil society campaigning in Zambia lies in what people are saying about World AIDS Day.

Last year, TALC attempted unsuccessfully to involve itself in national preparations for World AIDS Day. Writing to senior officials and calling for a meeting of different civil society agencies, TALC received no response. According to TALC, and a number of other civil society agencies, World AIDS Day in Zambia is mainly coordinated by the Zambian National AIDS Council with little input from genuinely independent civil society agencies. Felix Mwanza, told WAC, "it's so painful to be a person living with HIV and to see politicians standing up on stage just because it is World AIDS Day and that's what people expect.” According to Mwanza and others, World AIDS Day has become so institutionalised within the government AIDS calendar that there are rarely challenging or critical voices heard on 1st December.

According to Professor Michael Kelly, one of the best known Zambian AIDS experts, the problem with World AIDS Day in Zambia is that a good deal of energy goes into it but after the day itself, nothing much follows: "it is very necessary to get across the culture of a sustained campaign and not an episodic one."

Campaigning in action

On the day WAC Support Team members visited TALC, campaigners were marching through the streets of Lusaka demanding that the government give adequate protection from false cures.

A Zambian newspaper, The Weekly Angel, had printed lengthy articles about a new cure for AIDS. In the article, the writer also encouraged people to stop taking ARVs, stop using condoms, stop going for VCT and to stop vaccinations of adults and children.

TALC felt the message was dangerous and marched to National AIDS Council where a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on HIV and AIDS was being held. TALC members demanded better action by the government to respond to and correct false cure claims and to ensure drugs were not being sold in Zambia without having been proven effective and cleared by government authorities.

TALC chair, Clementine Mumba, used the opportunity to present a petition to Zambian Minister of Health, Angela Cifere, calling for government action. TALC hopes the action will show the government that advocacy can be positive and represent a call to action, as much as highlighting governmental problems that need to be addressed.

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