It's Saturday morning - the moment of the weekly distribution of foodstuff in the tuberculosis
ward of Malteser International within the national hospital in Maridi/South Sudan. All the
patients have come together with bags to get their ration of lenses, rice and flour. One of the people patiently queueing is Marko Lomone.
The 32 years old Sudanese is being treated in
the hospital for two months already. Before, he used to be a soldier. But one day he started
coughing, could not eat any more and felt weaker and weaker. His colleagues brought him to
a traditional healer who promised to expel the evil spirits out of him. The costs for this
procedure were very high but Marko did not feel any improvement of his condition. Quite the
contrary, he got thinner and thinner from day to day and could hardly stand anymore.
One day, he heard that a relief organisation existed in town that cared fort he sick and he asked his colleagues to bring him to their centre. There, the staff of Malteser International had the diagnose ready in short time: Marko was suffering from tuberculosis. As soon as he knew what caused his pain, he started with the treatment.
Since then, he is feeling better every day: his appetite has come back, he takes weight again
and he does not cough any longer. "Moreover, I am really glad that this is the only disease I
am suffering from", Marko says - alluding to the other disease that is so often linked to
tuberculosis: HIV/AIDS.
About 25 percent of all the tuberculosis (TB) patients in South Sudan are also infected with HIV. The reason is that TB only affects people whose immune system is already weak.
As the correlation between HIV/AIDS and TB is so close, the Malteser International staff asks
all their new patients if they want to do a voluntary free of charge AIDS test. Not all of them want one; many people prefer not to know the truth. Because an infection with HIV/AIDS is
often regarded as a death sentence in South Sudan - not only physically but also socially.
Often, the village communities expel and excluded those who are infected from their mid,
believing they have been jinxed. Others fear to get infected themselves.
Thanks to intensive education campaigns of Malteser International and other organisations, more and more people know about the prevention-ABC - „Stay Abstinent, Be Faithful, Use Condoms" -. But many people still believe that HIV is transmitted by hugging someone or by the use of the same mug.
Marko got tested - even if he was very afraid of the result. And fortunately, he was negative.
One can still see the relaxation on his face when he tells about this time of his life. "I thank god that he prevented me of AIDS", Marko says. "Before I came to the Malteser International ward, I did not know anything about this disease, I had no idea how it was transmitted. Here in the hospital, I got to know how dangerous it is and that it really threatens my live."
Many of his room mates have not been as lucky as he was. To explain the different ways of transmission of HIV, Malteser International offers education sessions for all the patients in the hospital several times per week. Marko follows them regularly.
"Now I know that traditional healers do not expel evil spirits. And I know that I can prevent AIDS by staying faithful to my partner. I really had no idea that one could be infected by sexual contacts. As a soldier, unfortunately, it is quite normal to take other girls. I have not seen my wife since three years and I often felt really lonesome", Marko explains. "But the
tuberculosis has saved my live. Because it made me learn important facts about HIV/AIDS.
I believe that God gives me a chance to change my live. When I will be cured and can go out of
here, I will leave the army and I will go back to my wife. And I will not be unfaithful any
more."
Kathrin Meier
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
People suffering from HIV/AIDS gather at a counseling centre during an AIDS awareness rally to mark the World AIDS Day in the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri December 1, 2008. HIV/AIDS ...
