AFRO-NETS> Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - 8 Aug 2001

[Cecilia Snyder <csnyder@ccmc.org>]

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report - 8 Aug 2001
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* AIDS May Be Curtailing South Africa's 'Lavish' Funeral Industry
* Ethiopia Strikes Deal to Import Discounted AIDS Drugs
* LoveLife Uses Basketball to Coach HIV Prevention Among South Afri-
  can Teens


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AIDS May Be Curtailing South Africa's 'Lavish' Funeral Industry

The growing number of deaths from AIDS-related complications has 
South Africa's funeral industry "fighting" to maintain the "high-
fashion" style it has developed over the last 15 years, as funeral 
directors are faced with a large number of deaths and little money to 
cover their costs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Beginning with 
the rise of black-on-black political violence in the mid-1980s, fu-
nerals began to evolve from "modest" traditional burials in "simple" 
coffins or animal skins to "events of defiance and personal political 
statements." The importance of a lavish funeral gained greater sig-
nificance after the end of apartheid, when "bigger and more ostenta-
tious" funerals were viewed as symbols of "having made it." Now AIDS 
threatens to change the industry, as too many people are dying too 
quickly for their families to be able to afford the "big send-offs" 
that have become fashionable among blacks. Nearly 600,000 South Afri-
cans are predicted to die this year, 195,000 from AIDS-related com-
plications. By 2005, the number of deaths is expected to reach 
915,000, with more than half resulting from AIDS. Matthews Mogafe, 
CEO of B3 Funeral Services, explained the situation confronting fu-
neral directors: "At times you get an unfortunate situation where two 
or three members of one family get sick and die. You just buried one 
member of a family, and five months later they are back." However, 
the family can no longer afford to spend the amount that it did on 
the first funeral, he said, adding that the lack of money does not 
keep families from "expect[ing] the same service" the second time 
around. 

Covering the Costs

Funerals in South Africa start at around $200 and can exceed $700 for 
the more lavish ceremonies, which often include foreign cars, grave-
side tents, sound systems and air-conditioned buses for transporting 
mourners between gravesite and funeral feast. "There is a hype that 
now comes with funerals, a sales pitch that manipulates the bereaved 
and leaves them little option at the end," Rev. Molefe Tsele, general 
secretary of the South African Council of Churches, which is "leading 
a crusade against lavish burials," said. Most South African blacks 
have an annual disposable income of less than $925. However, they 
"splurge" on funerals, borrowing money when necessary or taking part 
in "burial societies," quasi-insurance plans to which some South Af-
ricans contribute up to half of their earnings. Now with the mounting 
AIDS-death toll, many of those funeral societies and other insurance 
plans are placing restrictions on their policies and membership, 
lengthening the time before new members can receive benefits, thereby 
"excluding people in the later stages of AIDS," or "simply refusing 
to pay out." Moreover, AIDS is largely affecting those of working 
age. "We cannot continue to have funerals of extravagance when it is 
mostly the economically active who are being taken away by this dis-
ease," Tsele said. Dingaan Thobela, a former world boxing champion 
turned funeral director, called for government subsidies. "We are al-
ready suffering a shortage of cemetery space. We can't keep charging 
prices like now ... People will be too poor," he admitted. Public 
funds are "unlikely," as the government has little money to fund "ba-
sic" services like health care. To cut costs, many people are now re-
questing funerals during the week when rates are cheaper (Block, Wall 
Street Journal, 8/8)


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Ethiopia Strikes Deal to Import Discounted AIDS Drugs

Ethiopia's health ministry announced yesterday that it has struck an 
accord with unnamed international pharmaceutical companies to import 
10 antiretroviral drugs at discounted prices, the Associated Press 
reports. The list of approved drugs has been given to 32 local phar-
maceutical importers, according to health ministry spokesperson Ahmed 
Emanu. Although he did not disclose the companies, drugs or prices 
settled on in the deal, Emanu did say that the "only condition at-
tached" by the companies was that Ethiopia must establish a "strict 
control mechanism to ensure that the drugs are not passed to third 
countries." Plans for importing the drugs are already "underway," he 
added. Secretary-General of the National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Con-
trol Council Dr. Dagnachew Haile Mariam said that the government now 
needs to "equip laboratories and train health workers" to ensure that 
the drugs are properly administered. About 10,000 people rallied in 
Addis Ababa over the weekend calling on the government to "waive any 
duties or taxes on the drugs." Ahmed said their request was "under 
consideration," but added that no final decision had been made. More 
than half a million people have died of AIDS-related complications in 
the last 18 months and the 15-year death toll from the disease is ex-
pected to reach 1.7 million by the end of the year (Andualem, Associ-
ated Press, 8/7).


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LoveLife Uses Basketball to Coach HIV Prevention Among South African 
Teens

Former Maryland attorney and college basketball player Michael Scholl 
has brought basketball to South African youth centers to send an HIV-
prevention message to thousands of teens, Newsweek reports. Scholl 
serves as national manager for seven youth centers run by loveLife, a 
South African youth-based, anti-AIDS campaign funded by the Kaiser 
Family Foundation. Scholl told Newsweek, "We are running a league 
that has around 1,800 players and is designed to empower young people 
with confidence and self-esteem through basketball. ... We use it as 
a vehicle to transport their young minds to the proper place -- be-
coming aware of HIV/AIDS and other issues." He explained that 
loveLife works to discourage early and risky sexual behaviors among 
teens, but "doesn't preach abstention because it is unrealistic. 
Rather, we want young people to talk about sex and HIV/AIDS, to be 
aware of dangers involved and to be empowered to act responsibly." 
Scholl noted that the kids he coaches "respond wonderfully to sexual 
issues, even though it is difficult in their culture to break down 
barriers to talking about sex, HIV/AIDS and other difficult sub-
jects." Although many of the kids in the program may not yet be af-
fected by the disease, he said, "[I]n the long run we will all suf-
fer. We all are obliged to deal with the problem" (MacGregor, News-
week, 8/1). The full interview transcript is available online.

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The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, 
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National 
Journal Group Inc. ¸ 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser 
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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