-Caveat Lector- AIDS crisis faces Nigeria's newest leaders By PETER CUNLIFFE-JONES For more information on Africa, go to Africa News Online LAGOS (February 23, 1999 9:01 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Loaded into a sprawling evangelical church, in a run-down district of Lagos on a sweltering Sunday this month, around 2,000 people watched as Pastor Temitope Joshua, a self-proclaimed prophet and healer, went through his weekly ritual. This particular day the crop was a good one. Twelve people living with AIDS shuffled forward to receive a longed-for blessing. They were admonished for the sin of fornication which, they are told, brought on their present condition, and asked to cast out the evil spirit. Pastor Joshua then "blessed" them and they were "healed". "Hallelujah!" Immediately, smartly-dressed church workers came round with collection boxes and everyone present was urged to put something in. At 20 naira or 50 naira (25 to 60 U.S. cents) a throw, and with a congregation of 2,000, the Sunday service was indeed a profitable business. The desperation of this scene is repeated weekly in different ways in thousands of unofficial churches and "healing centers" across Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. It is, health workers say, the result of a "grossly inadequate" response by authorities here to confront the AIDS epidemic sweeping Africa. For many years Nigerians dismissed the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome as a "white man's invention" meant to keep down the world's black population, or a "gay disease" that would not touch Nigeria's heterosexual communities. That has changed. Eighteen months ago, Nigerian Afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died of AIDS and his brother, the former health minister Professor Olikoye Ransome- Kuti, told the world the cause of his death, alerting many Nigerians for the first time to the real dangers of the disease. But already, Ransome-Kuti says, it is too late for many. On government figures, at least five percent of Nigeria's 108 million people are carrying the HIV virus today. But health workers think the real figure is double that -- a new survey is due out soon -- and project that within a generation, the figure could reach 30 to 35 percent. With the population set to double in that time, the number of those carrying the virus would reach as many as 75 million by 2020. "The world is holding its breath in horror and anticipation of the disaster that will befall us if we do not take effective steps to stop the spread of AIDS in our country," Ransome-Kuti told a recent gathering in Lagos. "It might even be too late to avert the impending disaster. Maybe we can only ameliorate it," he said. However, so far, it appears unlikely that the looming AIDS catastrophe will be a top priority of the new government set to take charge after the Feb. 27 presidential election. Olu Falae, one of the two candidates in the poll, thinks much of the talk is hype. "As president, I am not going to panic. I think there is a need to raise the level of consciousness in Nigeria about the AIDS threat. ... But I think some people go overboard about it," he told AFP this month. Falae's opponent, former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo, a committed Christian, does not mention it in his campaign manifesto at all. "What is crucial here is information. The government has to create awareness of the problem," said Tim McLelland of the health organization Family Support Group. "All the evidence we have has shown that where prevention campaigns have worked well -- in Senegal, Uganda, Thailand -- they have been vigorous, government-level campaigns," said a health worker who asked not to be named. But funding for Nigeria's National AIDS and STD (sexually-transmitted diseases) Control Program has been "almost non-existent" in the past five crucial years, and there is almost no attempt at a government-level education campaign, program officials admit. Because of conservative social values, strong religious sentiment and a male- dominated attitude to sex, few people are willing to talk openly about the disease, or accept those suffering from it. As a result, treatment will likely remain a big problem for years to come. Hence the desperation of those attending Sunday services across the country, seeking a cure, knowing they probably will not get one, but thinking they are likely to receive more help there than from the government. -- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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