HIV policy remains deaf to sign language

29 Nov, 2015 - 00:11 0 Views
HIV policy remains deaf to sign language HIV and Aids literature has not been sensitive to the needs of those with hearing impairments

The Sunday Mail

Alois Vinga
It is a late Monday afternoon, the hearing-impaired peer educators training workshop is in progress and George raises his hand and Paida, who is facilitating the session, gives him a chance to speak.
“You have just said that using condoms will prevent HIV transmission but I am failing to understand how I will be protected since the condom does not cover the whole body?” says George in sign language.
Another hearing-impaired participant, Peter, asks: “But even if I go for counselling and testing how would I be assisted by the officers who cannot converse in sign language, even the nurses and doctors cannot explain to me what HIV does to my immune system?”
Before Paida responds, Kudakwashe presents another question: “When I got tested the counsellor signed that I am negative but I was so worried because in sign language diction ‘negative’ implies a situation which is not good.”
Such are the things experienced by the hearing impaired community in Zimbabwe.
Despite the country being renowned for implementing some of the best HIV and Aids intervention methods which is one of the reasons why the organisers of the International Conference on Aids and STIs in Africa (ICASA) considered in giving the country the chance to host the prestigious event.
A few people in the country do not seem to be aware of the reality that over 200 000 people who live with hearing impairments in Zimbabwe view HIV as a complicated topic which is only relevant to the hearing community. In highlighting the challenges that affect the hearing-impaired people in HIV and Aids issues the world over, United States Disability Studies Quarterly asserts that the hearing impaired risk groups become characterised by a set of assumed statuses, social positions and needs for intervention that are thought to be homogenous and inherent to the group.
In turn, stereotyping spurs public definitions of the HIV pandemic as a problem that concerns others and not oneself. This paradigm, which attributes HIV and Aids to the social other, may lead to the further marginalisation of infected individuals. It may also contribute “to the complacency and denial of the reality of risk of infection”.
The report further notes that in addition to this apparent lack of accurate knowledge of sexuality, studies show that youth who have hearing impairment are frequently unaware of or misinformed about HIV/Aids and how it is transmitted and prevented. College students who are hearing impaired are found to be significantly less informed about HIV/Aids than their hearing counterparts .
Furthermore, studies on adolescents’ knowledge of HIV/Aids reveal that high school students who have hearing impairments have extremely limited core knowledge of Aids, tend to be unaware of which behaviours place them at risk of infection, and have limited knowledge of transmission prevention.
Within this community, there are numerous social and environmental factors that may influence lack of knowledge regarding sexuality and HIV/Aids. Many such youths find few opportunities to acquire information, and encounter inadequate school-based instruction, misinformation from family members and peers, and parental reluctance to provide sexual education. People who have hearing impairments and some who are hard of hearing may also have limited access to mainstream mass-information systems. Mainstays of the public health approach, such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, as well as commercials and advertisements may not fully reach them because information via these systems is targeted at the general population who can hear and read a spoken language.
In assessing the challenges bedeviling the hearing impairment, Barbara Nyangairi, of the Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, notes: “The fact that the country has no facilities to offer sign language in the education sector implies that the majority of the deaf people cannot read and write. This makes it difficult for the deaf to read any materials that convey HIV and Aids information.
“Lack of sign language interpretation or captions on adverts that raise awareness on HIV issues further complicates the situation. In health institutions, the hearing impaired people still lay confused and scared in hospital beds not knowing what is about to be done to them because there are no people who are able to effectively communicate with them.
“Yet the Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees access to basic health services. Therefore, lack of sign language proficiency by medical personnel is a serious obstacle to access to health services by the hearing impaired. As a consequence, many deaf people are reluctant to go to hospitals, exposing them to risks of poor health and low life expectancy.
Tadiwa Pfupa, communications officer for the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe, sees the situation differently: “The hearing impaired are treated as people because they are people. Prevalence is not taken by geographical area, age or gender.
“However, that does not mean that we do not have special programs tailor-made for this community. The major challenge is that sign language is not standard. What one sign means in one community is different from the other. NAC is not an implementer but a co-ordinator and a number of our implementing partners are good in sign language.”
Farai Mukuta, advocacy and knowledge management advisor at the Disabillity, HIV and Aids Trust, is of a different view: “Be that as it may be, there is a serious challenge due to communication barriers. The country boasts of tremendous strides in its interventions but unfortunately whatever has been said in terms of prevalence reduction refers to the able-bodied. The hearing impaired are the forgotten tribe in terms of HIV knowledge.
“There should be extensive sign language training for personnel in the Aids service organisations, NACZ should have a disability desk where concerns and challenges faced by, not only the hearing impaired, but all handicapped, are addressed. The NACZ board should have a seat for People with Disabilities occupied by a person with a disability.
“The Global Fund should meaningfully fund hearing-impaired run organisations and their affiliates to addres the concerns of this forgotten community. And most importantly, health personnel and voluntary counselling and testing workers should be trained in basic sign language and ensure that sign language interpreters are available.”
Rosemary Mundhluli, a hearing impaired rights activist, suggests that: “Educational tools and techniques must be tailor-made in sign language and should be accompanied by visual tools such as pictures, videos, role playing conducted by hearing impaired peer eduactors.
“All education materials should be developed in partnership with individuals who have hearing impairment and these should include pamphlets written along with visual images and sign language structured phrases.”
For Former Miss Deaf Zimbabwe, Kudakwashe Mapeture, there is need to adopt a holistic approach in dealing with this issue through a grassroots mechanism: “Sexual and HIV/Aids education programmes should be introduced in all school-based-instruction for the hearing impaired, be it in mainstream or residential schools. This education should be designed to provide hearing impaired youth with accurate knowledge about safe sex practices and HIV/Aids prevention. Additionally, such education should be designed with the goal of reducing sexual abuse of children who have hearing impairments.”

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