AAM DISPATCH

Kampala, Uganda: Kansas City evangelical preacher Lou Engel brought his movement “The Call” to Kampala’s Makarere University this Sunday. The day-long service kicked off a week of “prayer and repentance” for the nation of Uganda. Reverend Engel last made headlines with a massive stadium event in support of Prop 8 – which killed same-sex marriage in California.

This time, Engle has walked smack into a brewing tempest around a piece of proposed Ugandan legislation that would suggest the death penalty for HIV positive homosexuals who engage in sexual relations. It’s a controversy Engle claims he had no knowledge of when he planned The Call Uganda.

While Engle walked the line and never openly supported the bill, he called Uganda “ground zero” for a religious revival, and prayed the nation would “hold fast its biblical values.” And while the event’s mc repeated the claim that there was to be no agenda, and no speeches, Engle was joined on stage by a host of Ugandan pastors who openly called for the passage of the anti-gay legislation.

Throughout the day, between jazz-gospel hymns, a slate of Ugandan evangelical pastors prayed for redemption from a recurring list sins: terrorism; government corruption; witchcraft, including human sacrifice and necromancy; and homosexuality.

For his part, Engle said that the anti-gay bill was a controversy created by NGOs, the UN and UNICEF, who were promoting an agenda the Ugandan pastors didn’t ask for. But anti-gay rhetoric is commonplace in Uganda, where one church leader has even shown gay-porn to his congregation, to illustrate his point.

Unitarian pastor Patricia Ackerman at the UN has condemned Engle’s visit, and local Ugandan Gay rights activists say “The Call” is bound to influence passage of the anti-gay legislation and is exacerbating a dangerous climate here for gay men and women, where being gay is already punishable by life in prison.

The Call Uganda ends Friday with a march through downtown Kampala

Matt Ozug Africa, Global Health

Sheik Hassan Kinyua Omari talks on his cell phone in front of the memorial wall at the Memorial Park Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, the site of the former US Embassy that was bombed on August 7,1998. His uncle's name is among the 219 names engraved on the wall – 207 Kenyans and 12 Americans lost their lives that day.

“What do you want to talk to this guy for?” My cab driver waved his hand toward Sheik Hassan Kinyua Omari, who stood on the muddy corner we’d just pulled up to, wearing a matching white thawb and head cover. Hassan and the driver had spoken twice on my cell phone as we tried to locate the “Media House” where he was waiting for me. I thought the cab driver was surprised to see that the man on the other end of the line, who he’d been frustrated with for giving him “bad directions,” was a Muslim sheik.

More likely, Hassan told me later, he was surprised that an American was meeting up with a Muslim. “The Kenyan people,” he laughed, “they don’t understand. They think Muslims and Americans do not like each other.”

Because of his inter-faith work and his status among Muslims here, Hassan has become a de facto diplomat — a sort of token sheik — who US Embassy officials have called on in tense times. He is the Deputy Director of Religious Affairs of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims and is fluent in English, Kiswahili and Arabic. Just after the embassy was bombed in 1998, Hassan was asked to deliver a public prayer. (At the time, he was only about 20 years old).

“And for sure, they will be calling me tomorrow,” he said, smiling and knowingly pointing a finger in the air.

The front page of today’s Nation, Kenya’s largest newspaper, was dominated by the headline, “US dollars fueling Church campaign.” According to the report, the American Centre for Law and Justice, founded in 1990 by televangelist Pat Robertson (its Nairobi branch is called East Africa Centre for Law and Justice), has pledged tens of thousands of dollars to defeat the proposed constitution that allows abortion where the mother’s life is in danger… and (this is the part rubbing Muslims here the wrong way) that retains Muslim kadhis’ courts, which have limited authority to to arbitrate disputes between Muslims over marriage, divorce, or inheritance. Hassan expects he will be asked to help mitigate fears among Kenyan Muslims that this is more evidence of an American plot to wipe out Islam.

Read more…

Jordana Gustafson Africa, Global Health, Religion

Carved out of the jungle 120 years ago, as the site to unify this massive nation, Brazil’s ultra-modern capital, Brasilia is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Brainchild of the visionary architect Oscar Niemeyer, the city is infamously non-walkable and utopian in both the best and worst sense of the word. But the city is also studded with remarkable public buildings, including those housing all Brazilian Ministries – like the Ministry of Health that heads the national AIDS program. As an optic treat, AAM presents images of one of the most visually stunning cities in the world.

Radio Producer Matt Ozug produced this piece for America Abroad’s AIDS: The Politics of Prevention. Music: “Carolina,” Seu Jorge.

Javier Barrera Latin America

Cornelius Gaskins and Wallace Corbett

“We often speak about AIDS as if it’s going on somewhere else. And for good reason – this is a virus that has touched lives and decimated communities around the world, particularly in Africa. But often overlooked is the fact that we face a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic of our own – right here in Washington, DC and right here in the United States of America.”
– President Obama, Speech from October 2009

Washington DC has the dubious distinction of being America’s AIDS capital. A recent study estimated that the HIV infection rate in Washington DC is 3%, the highest in the U.S. To put that figure in perspective, the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization consider a 1% infection rate as the threshold for a severe epidemic. While the national infection rate is well below that 1%  threshold, in some cities, like Washington DC, the problem is enormous.

Many health experts believe that the true infection rate in Washington DC is much higher. Among black men over 40, that figure jumps to about one in ten. Cornelius Gaskins and Wallace Corbett both fall into that category: black, over 40 and infected with HIV. They share with us a few moments of reflection and offer a window into the ways in which the virus has – or has not – shaped their lives. Watch >

Javier Barrera Global Health

When the AIDS virus first emerged almost three decades ago, a diagnosis was as good as a death sentence. Today, thanks to advances in medicine, that’s no longer the case. 30 million people in the world are living with HIV, and they are living longer, healthier lives. But, the bigger challenge is still prevention. Last year, 2.7 million more people contracted HIV, and despite nearly thirty years of awareness, there are many countries where the infection rates are still growing.

In 2003, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched to combat global HIV/AIDS – the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history. The Bush Administration’s emergency response to the AIDS crisis saved the lives of millions in Africa. The challenge for the Obama Administration is now to transition the emergency response into sustainable ones by making greater strides in reducing the number who contract the disease.

America Abroad’s Sean Carberry speaks with Dr. Nandini Oomman, director of the HIV/AIDS Monitor at the Center for Global Development, about the future of PEPFAR under the Obama Administration, and the challenges of developing global strategies for AIDS prevention (excerpt):

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On America Abroad, we explore some of the successes, failures, and challenges of containing the spread of HIV. We visit Brazil, a country that has implemented effective and controversial strategies to reduce the spread of the disease. On the other end of the spectrum, South Africa, where the disease continues to ravage the nation. We also examine the Bush Administration’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that’s provided life-saving treatment for over two million Africans, but has been less successful in preventing new infections. Listen to the entire program, AIDS: The Politics of Prevention >

Javier Barrera Global Health

While sitting in the waiting room of the orthopedic practice at Georgetown this week, I couldn’t help but think about my last visit to a doctor in July – in Pakistan.

Two days after I arrived in Islamabad to report a story for our current program on religious freedom. I came down with a nasty case of food poisoning. It was a variety that did not respond to the antibiotics I usually carry on trips to exotic locations. After a day confined to my hotel room, I realized I needed medical attention.

I was not exactly excited about the prospect of seeking out healthcare in Pakistan. I called my translator and he drove me to the main hospital in Islamabad. Without going into details about the facilities, let’s just say it was no Mayo clinic (although it was better than I expected).

Read more…

Sean Carberry Pakistan

Last night the women of Davida, an organization of Brazilian sex workers, came out to say goodbye to the Help Nightclub. For over a decade, Help, a discotheque on Copacabana’s Avenida Atlantica has been a well known meeting spot for prostitutes and Rio’s sex tourists. But recently the city of Rio De Janeiro bought the building under eminent domain laws. The stated goal is to turn the block into a museum of sound — however, cleaning up the image of this stretch of Copacabana surely wasn’t far from the minds of government officials.

The problem, according to Davida, is that Help has served as one of the safest pick up spots you’ll ever find. The sidewalk cafe in front of Help is well-lit, patrolled by police, and well in public sight. Prostitutes and Johns all pay a cover charge to enter the nightclub, which eliminates the possibility for exploitation at the hands of pimps or brothel owners. According to a survey done of the area’s prostitutes, if this nightclub closes, most will simply move their business down the road, to increasingly less safe locations. Help, Davida says, has been safe space in a business where the threat of violence is all too real.

So, beginning at 10pm, about 50 of Rio’s prostitutes enjoyed what may be one of their last nights working at the famed location. Some, who are also Davida members, distributed condoms and tried to assess what the closing of Help would mean for their fellow sex workers who they represent.

Matt Ozug Latin America

If anyone deserves credit for helping to reduce the HIV prevalence rate in Brazil of the past two decades, Gabriela Leite is certainly on the short list. Over 20 years ago she started an organization for sex workers called Davida, which today encompasses over 35 smaller NGOs nationwide representing some 25 thousand men, women and transsexuals who sell sex. She’s long advocated for the rights of sex workers in the face of police (and other) brutality and championed the use of condoms by commercial sex workers.

Gabriela is a retired sex worker and as she said in our interview, having walked in their shoes makes her uniquely – and necessarily – capable of representing the interests of Brazil’s prostitutes. (While many public health experts and international NGOs use the term “sex worker,” Gabriela actively embraces the word “puta” to describe herself and those she represents.) She says:

“I couldn’t work with homosexuals because I’m not a homosexual. I’m a prostitute and I can speak the language of the prostitutes. Too many organizations can’t speak the language.”

Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Chris Beyrer discovered that one of the main reasons for Brazil’s relatively low HIV/AIDS rates is because the Brazilian response has included the full participation of organizations like Davida. It’s done prevention with those who are most at risk, not just those who are politically appropriate.

Davida and Gabriela are both receiving an increasing amount of recognition and attention, both nationally and internationally. Gabriela’s autobiography is flying off shelves here, and she snagged a cameo on one of Brazil’s telenovelas – serial TV dramas that are a national addiction. But despite this recognition, prostitution, while legal, is still not exactly socially acceptable and Davida struggles to support itself financially. They tried managing a bar to bring some cash into the organization, but weren’t turning much of a profit. They’ve recently launched their own clothing line, called Daspu which has been much more successful. The name, Daspu, means “from the hookers,” but is also a play on the name of a trendy Rio shop. When that shop sent a letter to Davida, saying their apparel line was tarnishing the store’s good image, Gabriela promptly turned around and shared that letter with the press – causing her sales to soar.

In 2008, Daspu unveiled a new line of clothes at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Models strutted down the catwalk to Funk Daspu: a Brazilian funk song, penned by some local supporters. Listen to an excerpt:

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At 57, Gabriela shows no sign of slowing down. Besides, she says, she can’t. Activism, it seems, is in her blood.

Read an interview with Gabriela Leite from PBS’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and for further links, visit Wikipedia’s page on Davida.

Matt Ozug Latin America

The reports are frightening. The Swine flu scare that began in Mexico is picking up steam—soccer grandstands and subways are empty—and sales of surgical masks are up. And now cases of the virus are cropping up at an alarming rate throughout the United States, and across the globe. (See the CDC’s website for updated information on the virus’ spread). In the midst of all the concern a recent New York Times Editorial asked,

Is the new swine flu virus that has killed many people in Mexico and has spread to the United States and other countries the start of a much feared pandemic? Or is this yet another false alarm — the latest in a long history of worrying that some day a hugely lethal flu strain might sweep through the world and kill tens of millions of people, much as it did in 1918-1919?

Flu viruses constitute a threat of deadly consequences but uncertain probability. Thirty three years ago the administration of Gerald Ford faced just such a threat.

After a flu outbreak at Fort Dix, New Jersey in the winter of 1976 the nation’s top health officials believed there was a possibility for a severe pandemic. The flu strain that had killed one soldier and sickened five hundred was determined to be a swine flu. It was just such a flu that was believed to have wreaked such havoc during 1918 and 1919.

Experts could not determine what the chances of a pandemic were. But they could unequivocally say that there was some chance. They could also say that if the Ford Administration hurried, it could mount a massive vaccination program to keep the nation safe. That is exactly what the Administration did. For a full report on the 1976 Swine flu scare see AAM’s Avian Flu: Pandemic Threat and the Global Response.

But the program was delayed by a legal hurdle. Vaccine manufacturers did not care to produce the vaccine unless they were protected from possible litigation resulting from administering the medicine. This logjam was not broken until August of 1976. By that time the plan to vaccinate the entire population of the United States was behind schedule. Reports today indicate that it would be difficult for the US to mount an effective vaccine campaign.

Once it began, the program proceeded rapidly. In its first forty days over forty-three million citizens were vaccinated against the swine flu. But problems soon arose. Little more than a month into the vaccination program began reports of a rare neurological disease began to surface. Only about one half of the patients that were diagnosed with Guillan-Barre Syndrome had been administered the vaccine. But the connection was sufficient to terminate the program. Later studies were not able to determine whether the occurrence of Gullian-Barre was associated with the vaccine.

In the end, swine flu never struck, and the vaccine may have caused a rare disease. Today the reports of swine flu are more widespread than in 1976, but there is no foolproof way of determining whether this swine flu reach pandemic proportions.

When faced with the unknown chances and known devastation of pandemic flu policymakers will continue to err on the side of caution. The drawbacks of mounting a vaccine program to respond to a virus that does not materialize include the financial costs, lost government credibility, and possible negative side-effects. Though significant, these pale in comparison to a possible devastating repeat of 1918.

I investigated the 1976 swine flu scare in more detail.  Download this report on the Ford Administration’s decision-making in response to the crisis.

Chris Williams Flu